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The American Public Diplomacy Officer of the Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) in Erbil, Mr. Jonathan Cebra, who was accompanied by Jeffery Hilgsen, Iraqi Provincial Action Officer in Dohuk city presented a seminar for students at the University of Dohuk (UoD) on April 3rd , 2008. The seminar dealt with the available opportunities for Iraqi students to pursue their graduate studies in America. Mr. Cebra focused on some important scholarships offered for Iraqi students such as the Fulbright program. He urged students to search the different websites and make contact with American universities or professors in order to apply to study there.

Mr. Cebra said that there are a lot of scholarships available for Iraqi students. The coordination between the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG and the American government encourages more opportunities to come. Every student can apply for a scholarship if he/she fulfills the requirements of that scholarship; taking into consideration that one should submit an English language test and achieve an acceptable standard in an approved language test such as TOEFL or IELTS. This considers an essential condition if one likes to apply to study in an American university. For this reason, RRT are reviewing the idea of opening a new center at UoD for teaching English and providing information about how to apply for studying abroad. The finance for this center will be funded by RRT while the supervising and administrative staff will be provided by KRG.

Lastly, the delegation encouraged all students who attended the seminar to pursue their graduate studies in American universities; but first they advised them to take the TOFEL test that Amideast organization offers in Erbil. Mr. Cebra mentioned that the number of students accepted from the Kurdistan region for Fulbright scholarships last year was 6 out of 35 students from Iraq.