America (USA) turned up to participate in the maiden edition of EducationUSA fair held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.
The Fair, which was put together by the U.S. Embassy in Ghana in collaboration with the ACE Consult, sought to guide individuals to be successful applicants to U.S. colleges and universities.
Representatives of about 30 U.S. universities and colleges were on hand to attend to prospective students made up of senior high school students and university graduates.
Over the last year, EducationUSA advisors from the Accra and Kumasi Centers have helped thousands of Ghanaian students apply for admissions across hundreds of accredited institutions of higher learning, facilitating $7 million in financial aid and scholarships.
The partnership between the Embassy and the KNUST was strategic because it was important to recognise the incredible education community outside Accra, Ms. Laneice Brooker, Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy, said at the opening ceremony.
She said American colleges and universities provided intellectually stimulating and safe environments for all their students.
“Our universities and colleges are eager to welcome more Ghanaian students because of the diversity both intellectual and cultural,” she assured the participants.
She disclosed that the Open Doors Report confirmed that 4,916 Ghanaians studied at U.S. colleges and universities across all 50 States during the 2021/2022 academic year.
The number, according to her, represented a 16 per cent increase over the previous year and continued the long-term growth trend among Ghanaian students.
She said Ghana was the second highest sender of students to the United States from Sub-Saharan Africa, only second to Nigeria, adding that, the country was 18th in the world for sending students to United States of America.
“Even though Ghana was one of the few countries to see an increase in the number of students who went to the United States to study in the last academic year during the pandemic, we are not satisfy and are working to see those numbers increase even more,” Ms. Broker noted.
She further observed that, “Africa represent the future as well as the present, it is in all of our interest to find ways to deepen our cooperation and one of those ways is through education.”
It was her view that Ghanaian students studying in the U.S. would not only benefit them academically, but also strengthen the ties between Ghana and the United States in terms of bilateral relationship in the long term.
Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, Vice Chancellor of KNUST, in a speech read on her behalf, said the fair would provide opportunities for students, professionals and parents to study options in the States, while serving as opportunity for U.S. higher education institutions to find potential academic partnerships in Ghana.
She said KNUST recognised the importance of partnerships in the development of every institution hence the university was happy to partner U.S. Embassy to organise the fair.
The Vice Chancellor encouraged the students to always remember their roots and come back to help build the country even after having the opportunity to study in the United States.
