Higher Education Commission (HEC) and USAID have planned to increase contributions to the Fulbright scholarship programme to 150 million dollars. This was announced by the US Educational Foundation Pakistan (USEFP) here on Monday. Dr Grace Clark, Executive Director of USEFP said that the expanded programme would enable up to 400 Pakistanis to get Ph.D. degrees at US universities.
Approximately 15 million dollars will be available annually for Master's scholarships and an equal amount will support PhD scholarships. Expanding the number of scholarships for PhD students "represents a great opportunity for future Pakistani scientists, researchers and university professors", said Dr Clark.
She thanked Professor Atta-ur-Rehman, Chairman of the HEC and US Ambassador Ryan C. Croker for their efforts to increase the Fulbright programme contributions.
Dr Clark said that this programme would support the HEC's desire to broaden opportunities for Pakistanis to get doctorates degrees from US universities.
In April, officials has announced that USAID and HEC would provide up to 90 million dollars over five years under Fulbright programme, largely to enable approximately 600 Pakistanis to study for Master's degrees at US universities.
HEC, USAid and USEFP recently agreed to expand the programme further by 60 million dollars. HEC will provide 52.5 million dollars over five years, and USAid plans to provide 97.5 million dollars.
Dr Clark said that more than 1,000 Pakistanis would receive scholarships to pursue Masters and PhD degrees in America in coming years. This year 107 Pakistanis on Fulbright scholarship will be given admission for Masters and PhD degrees at US universities.