A one-day US Higher Education Fair organized by the US Educational Foundation in Nepal (USEF-Nepal) and US embassy in Nepal concluded on Saturday at Hotel Yak & Yeti, Durbar Marg. The Fair saw participation of over 2,000 aspiring undergraduate and graduate students from Nepal.

Attending students and parents got to interact with admissions representatives from over 65 US colleges and universities that had participated in the event with individual stalls. They gave out information on their respective institutions, available programs on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, scholarships and visa procedures.

Along with the university stalls, the Fair also had booths for alumni to share their experiences with the aspiring students as well as booths for American Spaces and standardized tests to share the information.

The number of Nepali students going abroad, and particularly in US, for higher students is growing. According to Open Doors’ report on International Educational Exchange, Nepal climbed up to the 13th position from last year with increasing number students in US.

The Fair has helped cater both Nepali students and US universities as a platform to interact with each other. From Saginaw Valley State University, one of the repeated universities to take part in the Fair, International Student Recruiter Whitney Cohen shared the crowd was busier than last year. “The students at the booth have been more in number as well and we got more queries for computer science and business studies this year,” said Cohen.

Anju Shrestha and Sangmo Tamang, who had come to inquire for PhD in Nursing and Master in Social Work respectively, found their courses at University of North Carolina at Wilmington for 2018 intake. Shrestha is currently in her last year of BSc. in Nursing from Little Angel’s College and Tamang is a graduate from South Western State College. “Courses in Nepal are more focused on theories. Courses abroad are more practical and we have the opportunity to be independent and take our course and job simultaneously. And with scholarships, we can get better opportunities too,” said Shrestha.

The Fair was organized on the last day of 2018 Education USA South and Central Asia Regional Forum, which was being held at the Hotel from January 31. The Forum comprised a series of sessions including conference, speech and discussion about merits of international education, particularly in US, was discussed.