HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes Iran, Pakistan and China. Young people in these countries and many others want to know how to attend college in the United States. We have decided to answer this question in a series of reports on AMERICAN MOSAIC.
We have done this before. The last series was broadcast two years ago. Since then, we have received many letters about American education, and how foreign students can take part. So we decided to offer a new series of reports that contain the latest information. The series will begin next week. Each report will discuss a part of the process of becoming an international student in the United States. Each week, the report will be placed on the Special English web page at w-w-w dot v-o-a dot g-o-v slash special.
Foreign students who want to study in the United States need to answer many questions. Some of the questions are: How do I find out about American colleges? How do I choose the right one for me? What tests must I take? What kinds of official documents will I need? How much will it cost? We will answer these kinds of questions in our reports.
We will discuss the American system of education. We will tell about where to get financial aid. We will describe rules concerning foreign students working while studying. We will explain the English language requirement. We will discuss the tests you must take. We will tell you how to prepare for them. We will tell you where to find help in your own country.
Some of the programs will tell about a few of the three-thousand different colleges and universities in the United States. These reports will discuss study programs that may interest you. We also will explain about ways to use a computer to study at an American university.
To prepare these reports, we talked to foreign students and university officials in different parts of the country. They told us about some good experiences ... and some that were not so good. Most students say planning ahead helped make their American experience successful. That is the purpose of the series—to help you plan. Our reports about attending college in the United States begin next week.