EducationUSA: An Initiative to Provide Information About Studying in USA

US embassy joined hands with United States India Educational Foundation to launch EducationUSA in India. It an app which provides information about studying in The United States. The centers of EducationUSA are already existing all over India. However, to reach students who don’t have access to any of the center, the app has been launched. It is functional in iOS, as well as, Android.

The embassy announced the launch of the application on the 5th annual “Student Visa Day”, on which the visa application and interview of only the students are done. George Hogeman, Consul General, U.S. Embassy told during the event that the application has been designed to equip students with necessary pre-departure information. He also told that the app is the first point of information for the students, parents, school counsellors and those who want to know about education in US but don’t know where to seek it. The app has been aimed at providing all the answers to the queries.

The most useful feature of EducationUSA is ‘AnswerBot’ where students can type their queries or choose from the common questions already present in the database system and get appropriate answers. The app also provides support service and information for shortlisting universities, scholarships, standardized testing and student visas. 

To inform students about EducationUSA, the embassy has also created a Facebook page. From there also, candidates can seek details about it. “We want authentic information on US universities to be available to the Indian students,” George Hogeman told the media houses. He also hinted that further measures are also planned for the benefit of the Indian students as they contribute $7.5 billion directly to the U.S. economy.

The Consul General was seen emphasizing on the student visas to be the bedrock of U.S-India relations. Higher education plays a central role in the relationship between the two countries he told the public in the event. 

Keeping this in mind, Hogeman also threw light on cracking visa interview. He advised the students to carefully listen to the questions asked in the interview and answer them truthfully instead of preparing a speech, that students normally do. He said that it is normal to be nervous and many nervous students are issued visas as long as they are true. 

In the last decade, the number of students seeking higher education in the U.S. has increased noticeably, with 1,96,000 students in 2018. An official of the U.S Embassy said that there a million international students in the U.S. However, as per him one out of every 5 international students is an Indian. One of the reasons why Indian students are attracted to higher education in the U.S. is due to the flexibility they practice in changing the majors multiple times after the admission. This useful initiative is set to help students all over India in fulfilling their USA dream.