VIJAYAWADA: US universities are offering a new flexible course that will enable students to take a break between semesters and work full-time for a company. These work-study programmes have come as a great opportunity to those Indian students, who cannot meet expenses on tuition, room and boarding from their own resources.

S.B. Anumolu, president, Indus Foundation, New Jersey, said here on Tuesday that the work-study programmes offered by the US universities came as a boon for those not having financial strength. These students would be allowed to stay away from the campus for several months and work for companies after the completion of one or two semesters. The US companies would give them full-time work, paying $ 20 per hour.

Addressing a "US Educational Fair" organised by Anzac Comtec Education (ACE), Mr. Anumolu said that on an average, each student would find eight hours of work and the earnings would be $ 160 a week. If the student worked for four to six months, the amount would come to $ 10,000. This would take care of the tuition fee and whatever other expenses that a student would incur. Given the largest educational system, the US had no dearth of programmes and opportunities for students who had a minimum academic background.

Long-term loans

Mr. Anumolu pointed out that it would be very easy to get long-term educational loans in the US provided the students could get counter-signatures from any of their relatives, who were green-card holders in that country. They sanction loans ranging from Rs. 4 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs, which can be repaid over a period of 20 years beginning from the time when they would find a job.

Mr. Anumolu said that the largest inflow into the US was from the four southern States. From these places, the Telugu-speaking populations were the single largest group leaving for education in the US. "It is a fact that Telugu-speaking people have a fascination for the US education. They are getting absorbed into different universities. Recent developments give more scope for Indian students to head for the US," Mr. Anumolu said.

Marysz Rames, director of international affairs, South Dakota State University, said that about 100 out of 11,000 students in their university were from India. She said that their university created a number of opportunities for Indian students to pursue higher education. Over 90 per cent of students pursuing masters and doctoral courses were given graduate assistantship. This would remove any financial burden on them. Even undergraduate students were being given jobs closely relating to their subjects.

Murali Venugopalan, associate director of international studies, Western Illinois University, said that their university had 14,000 students and 700 faculty members. Scholarships were being given to undergraduates and stipends were given to those selected for graduate assistantship.

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