STAFF REPORT IBD: The United States has been providing financial assistance to Pakistani talented and needy students to continue their higher education.
According to details, the USAID has funded merit and needs based scholarships under the US education assistance programme for Pakistan. This includes building or rehabilitating nearly 850 schools, which benefits more than 86,000 school children; creating accredited degree programmes in education at 90 teacher colleges and universities; establishing centers for advanced studies at three Pakistani universities.
The data shows, only one in five families throughout Pakistan can afford the expense of sending even one family member to a local public university.
The USAID and Higher Education Commission (HEC) have launched the merit and needs-based scholarship program in 2004.