US university fair draws huge crowd

CHENNAI: The United States — India Education Foundation (USIEF), in association with the Linden Educational Services, conducted a US University fair in the city on Tuesday to create awareness and publicise US institutions among Indian students. With Indians being the largest group of foreign students on US campuses, the number of institutions visiting the fair has grown over the years. Representatives from 22 US universities participated in the fair and discussed the wide range of courses and programmes on offer. Students and parents interested in higher education in the US participated in the fair and interacted with representatives from the institutions.  According to JoBeth Brundner, the tour leader of Linden Group, most Indian students take up masters  programmes in engineering courses in the US, followed by business and computer science courses. “However, in the past few years, there has been a sporadic increase in the number of students opting for courses such as design, film making, biotechnology and biological sciences,” she said.Talking to City Express, Maya Sivakumar, Programme Officer, USIEF, Chennai, informed that the deadline for Fullbright Teacher Exchange Program was open till September 15. The scholarship will provide an opportunity for  eight Indian secondary school teachers of English,  Mathematics or Science to participate in direct exchange of positions to work in America, while US teachers will work in Indian schools.Deadlines for teachers to apply for scholarships such as the Distinguished Fullbright award in Teaching Program and Fullbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program are still open. Interested teachers can obtain more information from www.usief.org.in