An education fair was held in Chattogram on Thursday aiming to provide information for Bangladeshi students about higher education application process in the United States.

The US Embassy in Dhaka organised the fair through its EducationUSA platform in partnership with EdPrograms at hotel Radisson Blu Chattogram Bay View.

Representatives from 26 accredited higher education institutions in the US participated in the fair with all the information about the admission process.

Apart from from Chattogram city, interested students from Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari joined the fair.

The fair created a unique opportunity to communicate directly with representatives of colleges and universities in the United States. Students learned valuable information about academic programmes, campus life, scholarship opportunities, application procedures, and application fee waivers.

Stephen Ibelli, public affairs counselor of the US Embassy in Dhaka, said that many students of Bangladesh dream of studying in the universities of the United States. Because of this, they have come here to learn about the US universities.

In order to provide detailed information, renowned universities of the North, South, East, and West of the United States participated in this fair, he added.

He said that the number of Bangladeshi students in the United States has increased more than three times in the last decade. In the 2011-12 academic year, there were 3,314 Bangladeshi students in the United States. From there it increased to 10,597 students in the 2021-22 academic year.

“We want more students from Bangladesh to pursue higher education in the US and build their careers,” Stephen Ibelli added.

Nafis Akbar, a student who came to the fair, said: “We can get information from searching the internet but not in an organised way. But here in the fair, representatives of the respective institutions provide all the information about the admission opportunities in the famous universities,” he said.

Ridwan, a student of Chittagong University, wants to obtain a Master's degree in Law from US's Arizona University.

“I have collected various information by visiting the internet. However, coming to the fair, many questions were easily answered,” Ridwan added.

According to the US Embassy, it will also arrange another fair in Dhaka on September 9, 2023.

However, the fair will be held separately at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.