DCM Nicole Chulick’s Remarks at the
EducationUSA College Fair Networking Reception
Friday, September 16, 2022, 6:00-8:00pm
Labadi Beach Hotel
Good evening, everyone!
I am so pleased to welcome you all to this reception following what I hear has been a very successful college fair today. I am excited to be among this incredible group of educators, school administrators, counselors, and admissions representatives.
All of you here this evening represent the strong people-to-people ties between Ghana and the United States. It is wonderful to see this flourishing interest on both the part of Ghanaians, who are considering studying in the United States, and on the part of the representatives from all the U.S. colleges and universities who came all the way to West Africa – and specifically Ghana – to meet with prospective students.
I understand the U.S. college fair delegation started this tour on Monday in Abuja, then on to Lagos, and are here to wrap up in Accra tomorrow. Thank you for saving the best for last!
This evening is meant to be an informal and fun networking session so let me just take a few moments to acknowledge the various groups present tonight in addition to U.S. college and university representatives.
We have directors of education, deans, and other university administrators, as well as teachers and counselors from senior high schools. They are some of our most valuable resources when it comes to recruiting Ghanaian students into undergraduate and graduate programs in the United States.
We appreciate them for providing our EducationUSA advisors with access to their student populations and providing support and guidance to students who show promise for academic study abroad.
Also present are secondary high school teachers who are U.S. government exchange alumni from the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) programs. These are outstanding secondary school teachers who have been recognized for their leadership in the classroom and beyond and who were selected to participate in teacher development and training in the United States. They too help our Embassy EducationUSA advisors reach key student populations with information about U.S. higher education.
We have our recently arrived cohort of American Fulbright students, research scholars, and visiting lecturers (professors). The Fulbright suite of programs is one of the United States’ longest standing and most prestigious academic exchange programs. We are honored to have such a talented group of Americans, who are connected to research institutions and universities throughout Ghana and helping forge collaborative research and teaching between U.S. and Ghanaian institutions.
And finally, we have Ghanaian university administrators and faculty who are the hosts for the American Fulbrighters. They are key in our efforts to create and sustain partnerships and linkages among American and Ghanaian universities. They also help our EducationUSA advisors promote graduate and post-graduate studies in the United States among Ghanaian university students.
I hope that many of you here tonight will get to meet new and interesting people all working towards the goal of increasing our two countries’ educational exchanges and partnerships. Today’s college fair and this EducationUSA reception are examples of our partnership with Ghana on education. I am extremely gratified to see us come together and maximize our mutual interest in furthering educational opportunity for Ghanaian students.
If you will let me, I want to brag that over 4,200 Ghanaian students studied at 630 U.S. colleges and universities, in all 50 States, in the 2020-21 academic year! This maintains Ghana’s ranking as the second-highest sender of students from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States, only after Nigeria, and when you think about our population sizes, that is really impressive. I believe that with the work you all have done today, we will see those numbers increase!
We look forward to continuing our partnership for education with Ghana. We know that access to quality education is a pre-condition for equitable economic growth, for improving critical health indicators, for advancing gender equality, and to promote socio-economic progress. Indeed, a prosperous and stable Ghana is good for Ghana and good for the United States – and it all starts with education.
I hope you enjoy each other’s company and make new friends. Thank you and have a good evening.
