The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in coordination with partner organization IREX, will host an arrival orientation in Washington, DC for Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan) participants from January 3-6, 2011. Launched in fall 2010, Global UGRAD-Pakistan provides a substantive exchange experience at a U.S. college or university to a diverse group of 100 emerging student leaders from underrepresented sectors in Pakistan with the goal of increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Pakistan.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs Alina Romanowski will participate in a moderated conference call about Global-UGRAD Pakistan with interested members of the media on Thursday, December 30, 2010, from 10:30 – 11:00 am. Please RSVP with Department media contacts below or dial in to 1-866-803-2146 (Participant Code: 7321372).

Global UGRAD-Pakistan students engage in one semester of non-degree study and are placed at more than 35 accredited two- and four-year higher education institutions in over 25 states. Participants also take part in local community service projects, engage in cultural enrichment activities on and off campus, and complete an American Studies course.

Global UGRAD-Pakistan is part of the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (Global UGRAD), a scholarship program for students from the Western Hemisphere, East Asia and the Pacific, the Near East and South Asia, and Eurasia and Central Asia. Global UGRAD participants are among the more than 40,000 academic and professional exchange program participants supported annually by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Other Bureau programs include the Fulbright Program, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program and the International Visitor Leadership Program. For more information, visit http://exchanges.state.gov.

Media Contacts:
James Lawrence, LawrenceJA@state.gov, 202-632-3241
John Fleming, FlemingJT2@state.gov, 202-632-6454