There is good news for Indian women who are outstanding students but cannot afford to go to university.

The Asian University for Women, Chittagong, expects that most of their applicants, including those from India, will receive a scholarship and not pay the full USD 10,000 fee.

“We go through financial aid forms and see how much a family can realistically pay and award scholarship amounts accordingly,” said Jill Davis, deputy director of admissions, Asian University for Women, who was in the city to raise awareness about the university in West Bengal.

The residential university, which will soon move to a 120-acre campus in Chittagong, is for outstanding women from disadvantaged communities in South Asia, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The university includes Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus in its board of advisers.

The Asian University for Women, which has partnered with Stanford University and Aalborg University in Denmark to offer a masters in information communication technology, expects to come up with the following masters degrees in the next four years:

•       Business
•       Environmental Technology
•       Public Health
•       Education

The girls are in the 17 to 26 year age bracket and speak varying levels of English. “We have girls that are from war-torn families and speak good English to those with basic skills,” said Davis. There are classes to help them improve.

The faculty is from the USA, Canada and Australia and have been selected by WorldTeach, affiliated with the Center for International Development at Harvard. 

“We are looking for more Asian women next year as it’s important for the girls to have Asian role models,” said Davis.

Classes are of 12 to 15 students. The curriculum is in English and emphasises sciences within the liberal arts. Students are also encouraged to take part in sports and other extracurricular activities.

The students are encouraged to think critically and to apply what they have learnt in class to their lives. They also learn how science and the liberal arts are not mutually exclusive. When learning about water in their English classes, the girls went and collected water on the roadside used for bathing and sent it for testing at laboratories.

The university provides internships as part of its programmes.

FACT FILE:

Institute: Asian University for Women (private university) started pre-undergraduate classes in 2008

Fees: USD 10,000 (includes living and travel expenses, tuition)

Course: First undergraduate classes in August 2009

Scholarships: AUW will award scholarships after reviewing how much the family can realistically pay

Undergraduate programmes are offered in:

·      Literature and women’s studies

·      Politics, philosophy and economics

·      Biological sciences

·      Computer sciences

Accreditation: In the process of being accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the same agency that accredits Harvard

Facilities: High speed internet connection, gym, library

Contact: admissions@auw.edu.bd

sudakshina.ghosh@timesgroup.com