JERUSALEM, March 31, 2010 (WAFA)- In partnership with AMIDEAST, the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem formally announced the launch of the new American Palestinian Local University Scholarship (A-PLUS) Program during the annual Palestine Education Exhibition (PEDEX). 

The new program, funded through the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) office, will provide 51 academically promising Palestinian high school seniors throughout the West Bank and Gaza full academic undergraduate scholarships for Bachelor’s degree programs at local Palestinian universities, along with training and other opportunities to develop and enhance their employability and professional careers.

This program is the result of special funding announced by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her March 2009 visit to Ramallah.  According to Alistair Baskey, the Educational and Professional Exchanges Officer at the U.S. Consulate, the program is intended to “assist those talented Palestinian students who due to social or economic reasons are unable to travel overseas to study.”  Mr. Baskey noted that interested students should contact AMIDEAST offices in the West Bank and Gaza.

The U.S. Department of State has a number of programs to support Palestinian students, including the English Access Microscholarships program (Access), which provides teenagers with free English language instruction, the Youth Exchange and Study program (YES), which supports one year of study at U.S. high schools, and the Fulbright Foreign Student program (Fulbright), which fully funds study for M.A. or PhD degrees at U.S. universities.  Mr. Baskey stated that “Three hundred and sixty two Palestinians studied in the United States in 2009 and it is our goal to increase this to over 500 by 2011, including maximizing the number from Gaza.  President Barack Obama clearly stated in his Cairo speech that he wants to increase the number of Arab and Muslim students studying in the United States.”