Hyderabad: Experts give tips to students on pursuing higher studies in US

Hyderabad: Telangana State Planning Board (TSPB) Vice-Chairman B Vinod Kumar asked students going abroad for studies to return to Telangana and contribute for the development of the State.

He was addressing as a chief guest at a seminar on "US Higher Education", organised by American Telugu Association (ATA) in association with Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) here on Monday.

Explaining various initiatives of the State government for providing quality and accessibility to higher education to the people, he said that around 80 per cent of students in Telangana come from underprivileged families.

The State government has been providing around 3,000 scholarships to eligible students. He also suggested to the students to undertake project works and visit the water and infrastructural projects like Kaleshwaram.

Eric Alexander, head, Consular Section, US Consulate, Hyderabad stressed the need to understand the process of filling applications and selecting the right universities in the US. Besides, he advised that legal aspects of pursuing part-time employment must be given attention.

He explained how Indian diaspora has been contributing in a big way to the internationalisation of education.

Telangana State Council of Higher Education Chairman Prof T Papi Reddy assured the Board of Trustees of ATA to extend all necessary cooperation in their initiatives to develop Telangana as an educational hub. Papi Reddy thanked the US Consulate for its continuous co-operation.

Prof Rajasekhar Vangapaty, Professor and Registrar, State University of New York, Fashion Institute of Technology, USA addressed parents and students on the US degree programmes, credit system, degree requirements, do's and don'ts while studying in US colleges, fake colleges and accreditation of US colleges.

Prof Rajasekhar advised the colleges and university administration on the importance of digitizing the student records, articulation agreements between Indian and US college and universities, dual degree programmes, faculty exchange programmes and teach teaching opportunities etc.

Sohail, Advisor, Education, USA, US Consulate, Hyderabad outlined the different steps to be taken up by the students and the need to check the accreditation reputation and credibility of the universities before seeking admission.

They include selecting colleges and universities, US university applications process, getting I-20 and steps to apply for US visas, options to work part-time on-campus other options available to sustain the period of their study.

He also advised students to contact Education USA help desk for seeking further clarifications about the process and formalities to be completed

The Board members of ATA along with Parmesh Bheemreddy, president, ATA, Bhuvanesh, president elect., ATA 2020, Jaydev Challa, Kavitha, president, Telangana Development Forum and Zafer Javed, Sultan-ul-Uloom Educational Society and faculty and nearly 500 students from various colleges participated in the seminar.

Prof V Venkata Ramana and Prof Limbadri, Vice Chairmen, TSCHE and others spoke on the occasion.