International EDUCATION REPORT- September 19, 2002: Foreign Student Series # 1 >Introduction
By Nancy Steinbach

This is the VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT.

This week, we are starting a series of EDUCATION REPORTS about how people from foreign countries can attend college in the United States.

We have done this before on the Special English program AMERICAN MOSAIC. The last series was broadcast two years ago. Since then, we have received many letters about American higher education and how foreign students can take part. So we decided to offer new reports that contain the latest information. The series will begin next week.

Each week, the EDUCATION REPORT will discuss a part of the process of becoming an international student in the United States. Each report also will be on the Special English Web site at www.voaspecialenglish.com.

Foreign students who want to study in the United States have many questions. Some of these include: 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 higher education. We will tell about financial aid. We will describe rules concerning foreign students who want to work while studying. We will explain the English language requirement. We will discuss required tests. We will tell how to prepare for them. And 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 colleges and universities in the United States. These reports will discuss study programs that may interest you. We will tell about living at an American college. We also will explain about ways to use a computer to study at an American university without leaving home. And we will discuss how the terrorist attacks last year have changed some of the rules for foreign students in the United States.

To prepare these reports, we talked to government officials, foreign students and university officials in different parts of the country. Most students say planning ahead helped make their American educational experience successful. That is the purpose of this series ?to help you plan. Our reports about attending college in the United States begin next week.

This VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT was written by Nancy Steinbach.