A delegation of 21 higher education institutions from the United States attended a student fair in Mumbai as a part of the Education Trade Mission led by the US Universities Department of Commerce.
The two-hour event aimed to make the decision-making process for hundreds of Indian students easier by sharing information and insights about various programs, scholarships, state of the art facilities offered by higher education institutions in the US.
University representatives from California, New York, Texas, etc made their presence felt at the St Regis Hotel in Mumbai.
Iowa State University, Penn State University, Washington State University, University of Findlay, etc were some of the noteworthy institutions present at the fair.
“We aim to promote opportunities between higher education institutions in India and the US , while also helping Indian students explore educational options in the States,” said Brenda Soya, the Public Affairs Officer at US Consulate in Mumbai.
Students from colleges across Mumbai thronged the venue to interact and discuss their study abroad plans with the US institution representatives.
“We want Indian students to understand what it means to study at Penn State University. India is now a major contributor of students with 25% of them applying for undergraduate degrees compared to 75% enrolling for postgraduate courses,” said Yvonne Gaudelius, the Vice President and Dean of Penn State University who further appreciated their interactions with renowned Indian universities such as NMIMS, St. Xavier’s, Jio Institute, etc.
“At Penn State, students and faculty are more involved with each other while working on research as the latter plays a huge part in guiding the students every step of the way. We also have multiple interdisciplinary courses which are solidified by the University’s ranking in the top 100 internationally according to US News. It further helps that the institute is located in Pennsylvania, which is considered one of the safest cities in the country,” added Gaudelius, who also highlighted the importance of the institution as one with a ‘land-grant’ thus allowing them to practice agriculture, science, engineering at liberty.
Penn State was not the only public research university vying for enrollment by Indian students in the coming years, with the University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) located in the Kansas city metropolitan area signifying the importance of being in the Midwest. “We are located in the Midwest which is away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities. Chemistry, Law, and Pharmacy are some of our most sought-after courses. It would also please the students and parents to know that it has its own medical school and is classified among R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity,” stated Doug Swink, the Assistant Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at UMKC, who also hailed the connection to different industries that students can have while being in the Midwest due to it being a hub of manufacturing in the country.
Emerging edtech platforms that focused on students interested in Data Science also attracted many who might want to make use of such tools for their day-to-day academic work. “We are a startup that established itself in 2019, founded by a teacher from the University of Virginia. We aim to help students engage with data and do real analysis. Even students with no statistics background can upload and visualise their own data sets through our applications. Since students always look for professional tools that can help them sort through the data, we have different types of developments, tips, and tricks that deal with the same,” said Blake Blaze, Director of Operations at Data Classroom. Rachana Bhave, a Ph.D. student from the University of Virginia who originally hails from Pune, was among the individuals working with the edtech platform and making the students understand the concepts behind the platform.
The Washington State University(WSU), which prides itself on being the second largest institution for higher education in the state behind the University of Washington, also pitched over 200 programs offered by the institution. “We are proud to say that we have students from over 170 countries with more than 400 Indian students being enrolled currently. Students from our institute are placed in multinational corporations such as Boeing, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, etc,” said Professor and Associate Director of WSU Prashanta Dutta who looks forward to a year-on-year increase in the number of students from India.
The study fair which was attended by members from the US Consulate in Mumbai, US Universities State Department Education network Education USA, etc. also had an interactive session wherein the Consul General Mike Hankey and Regional Officer, United States-India Educational Foundation, Ryan Pereira addressed the students about the various opportunities, visas and aimed to resolve their concerns regarding the appropriate admission test, application processes, attractive scholarships, career advancement chances, profile-building, and funding.
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