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First, a warm welcome to all of you to this year’s Bicommunal Workshop for School Counselors.  As you may know, this workshop is part of International Education Week.  We hope it will be a great opportunity for you to learn more about our support for foreign students to study in the United States, and, more broadly, about the U.S. higher education system itself and how to help your students access the benefits it offers.  According to the Institute of International Education, at least 1,834 Cypriots were enrolled in U.S. universities in the academic year 2002-2003, an incredible figure for an island with a population of less than one million.

My message to you and your students is straightforward:  come study with us.  It’s good for your students, it’s good for Cyprus and it’s good for the United States.  Such academic exchange is yet another bond between us that keeps our relationship as we wish it to be: strong and close.

The Cyprus Fulbright Commission administers two highly attractive educational programs – both supported by the U.S. Government.  In Cyprus, the Cyprus America Scholarship Program (CASP) and Fulbright academic scholarships provide Cypriot students with an education at some of America's best universities.  These programs also serve to promote greater understanding between the people of the United States and Cyprus. 

The purpose of the Fulbright program worldwide is to enhance international cooperation and understanding.  As Senator Fulbright foresaw, Fulbright scholars constitute vital intellectual and human networks around the globe.   We are very pleased that the Government of Cyprus is a full partner in the classic Fulbright program.  In fact, it contributes the lion’s share of its cost.  We welcome that contribution and regard it as a sound investment in strong ties between us.  The CASP, on the other hand, is fully funded by the people of the United States.  It represents our investment in sound relations and a better future for Cyprus.

In Cyprus, the CASP and Fulbright programs also bring together students as representatives of both communities.  They provide opportunities for the next generation of Cypriots to get to know one another better and to form lasting friendships and professional ties. 

There have been 1,717 scholarships awarded through the CASP program since 1981, and approximately 656 traditional Fulbright grants awarded since the beginning of the program in Cyprus.  Upon their return to Cyprus, many of these scholars have become crucial contributors to the rapid development and growth of this island.  Fulbright graduates also occupy influential positions in Cyprus and elsewhere.

Previous Fulbright and CASP students have also helped Americans to come to know Cyprus and its people.  In the U.S., Cypriot students can find themselves in a new and often confusing environment.  They see, learn and experience many things, some they enjoy and some they don’t.  Like any other country, America has its strengths and weaknesses.

As they will discover, one of the unique aspects of the United States is its diversity.  As counselors, you will see this as you research universities with your students.  The students themselves will realize this later as they live within a multi-ethnic society.  For outsiders, this diversity can sometimes be intimidating.  My experience with students from other countries in which I have served is that once students experience it firsthand, they soon realize that the positive far outweighs the negative.

I’d like to tell you a little bit about what I believe are the compelling reasons that still make study in the United States an attractive option for Cypriots.

Large numbers of Cypriot students have traditionally studied abroad. For many years, Cypriots have chosen to study in the United States in increasing numbers.  Recently, however, parents and students have concluded that membership in the EU confers cost advantages for Cypriots that make a U.S. education seem far out of reach in comparison. Fortunately, this is not necessarily true.  Study in the United States remains affordable to Cypriots.  Because of the unique advantages of an American education, I am convinced that Cypriots should make every effort to discover these advantages and how they can profit from the American educational experience.

Home to what I would argue are the world's best educational institutions, the United States is always ready to accept qualified students from abroad.  And there are very sound reasons for making an extra effort.  For example, American schools are not great simply because they attract the great students or hire great professors, although that may be true. They are not the great because their libraries, laboratories, playing fields and cultural resources are great, although that may be true also.    

The real virtue of American education is its diversity and its flexibility.  By choosing to join the foreign student contingent, your counselees will make a contribution to that diversity.  They will join nearly 600,000 students and professors from virtually every country on this globe in the adventure that is American higher education. 

The American university of the 21st century is a magnet for those who want to excel, to learn the latest techniques and work with the newest technology, to match wits at work and play with people who think differently and who have different approaches and solutions.  Your students will be enriched by this cross-fertilization. 

Another reason for deciding to study in the USA is the immense flexibility its graduates possess when they "finish" their American education.  They will not be channeled into a narrow field of study that affords no relief from their majors, as too often happens in other systems.  They will see how interdisciplinary work contributes to both sides in the exchange.  They will see how the student of physics gains new perspective by studying music, how the medical student's study of poetry aids in understanding the human condition.   

When graduates enter the job market in this world -- a world that is changing so fast it makes your head spin -- they will be able to adapt as needed and far more readily if they’ve got an American education.

B.F. Skinner, a famous American psychologist, once said, “Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” And that is the essence of the approach to education in many of our leading universities – to learn how to learn, to learn how to think critically, how to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t and how to go about filling the gap, and how to communicate all this effectively. In the 21st century of an increasingly knowledge-based, but information-overloaded economy, those are the kinds of skills most in demand.

The high cost of a U.S. higher education may seem discouraging at first, but there are many ways to overcome this hurdle.  First of all, costs vary tremendously.   Total annual costs of tuition, fees and living expenses can range from $10,000 to $40,000, depending on the institution and the location.  This gives your prospective students the opportunity to select institutions that fall within their budget.  Second, all of the more expensive private institutions offer financial aid for international students based on merit or need.  Financial aid opportunities increase further at the graduate level, where students can apply for teaching, research or administrative assistantships as well.  Loans available to Cypriots to study can also be used to help finance an American education.  It’s a great investment.   Finally, if they meet the criteria, make sure your counselees apply for the CASP and Traditional Fulbright scholarships administered by the Cyprus Fulbright Commission.

The very fact that you are attending this workshop means that you realize that our educational advising service at the Cyprus Fulbright Commission is a good place to start to learn more about these opportunities for your counselees.

Studying in the U.S. is an opportunity not only to strive for academic excellence, but to get to know the American people and American ways, and for Americans to get to know Cyprus.  Through you, let me strongly encourage your students to take advantage of everything America offers.  Here today I hope you will learn more about the resources available to help you to do this.

Finally, remind your students that abroad they will be ambassadors for Cyprus.  Many Americans know little about Cyprus and would benefit from learning more from Cypriot students.  Cypriot students, in turn, may well learn from the questions they will encounter.  Things that are considered “givens” and “self-evident” by those who grew up on the island may not, in fact, be perceived as such by those with other experiences. 

I wish you all the best. Thank you for participating today.  This is your chance to help your best students achieve a dream:  to study in the United States and become part of the vibrant network of Cypriot alumni of American universities.