AUCA welcomes the biggest cohort of Afghan students in the history of the university

February 11, 2020

On Monday, February 3, the biggest cohort of Afghan students in the history of the American University of Central Asia has arrived in Bishkek. The Program “AUCA Afghan Scholarship through the U.S. Embassy Kabul 2019” will allow the students to study a year at the New Generation Academy and 4 years of the Bachelor program, 5 years in total. This Program provides 49 female and 10 male Afghan scholars with a fully covered American-style and accredited education in one of the best universities in the region.

AUCA is proud to maintain a long and fruitful partnership with the Program, and we are thankful for the trust that the US Department of State has in our university to contribute to the education of the new generation of Afghan leaders. Merit-based Scholarships through the U.S. Embassy in Kabul help the outstanding Afghan girls and boys to pursue high education at AUCA since 2012. Our university welcomed the previously biggest cohort of students in 2015; at that time we had 40 new scholarship-recipients. This year we are very happy to meet 59 outstanding young leaders from Afghanistan.

This Scholarship Program allows the perspective youth from Afghanistan to study at AUCA in an atmosphere of cultural diversity and academic rigor in the liberal arts tradition. The students receive full financial support and demonstrate high academic and extracurricular performance rates.

The success of the Program is represented by the strong and active AUCA Afghan students and 60 prosperous Program's alumni who work at governmental and international organizations in Afghanistan and worldwide, and successfully continue higher education in the US and Europe. Our alumni remain active contributors even after graduation, they advise and help the current students and attend orientation sessions for the younger generations of scholarship-recipients to support and encourage the Program's finalists.

The orientation information sessions for the students were held last week. AUCA President Andrew Kuchins, Vice President Chingiz Shamshiev, Afghan Student Coordinator, Student life Office, Doctor, Grants office and Dormitory welcomed the students and introduced the University's and Program's policies to them. Students learned the essential information about the mission and goals of the Program, rules, and regulations of the University learned how to navigate and explore the city, obtained information about Kyrgyz culture and AUCA academic structure.

On Saturday, February 8 the students had a city tour and traveled to the downtown with the Afghan Coordinator, student, and staff volunteers. They explored the memorable monuments and sights of Bishkek, AUCA old campus, and visited a National Museum of the Fine Arts.

The international community of AUCA is increasing greatly every year. We are happy to celebrate our diversity and maintain better intercultural connections with students from Asian countries and beyond. We are glad to observe how the regional partnership launches and develops on the platform of our university.

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