2. What is the Higher Committee for Education Development (HCED)?

Under the auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister of Iraq, the HCED is the office that will be administering the Initiative.  The HCED is responsible for selecting Iraqi scholarship recipients through a fair and transparent process and for placing students at institutions of higher education.  More information is available on the HCED website: http://www.hcediraq.org/.

U.S. universities and colleges must be accredited to become a member of the Consortium.  The HCED will be placing students with Consortium members that can streamline the admissions and placement process for Iraqi students. In addition to offering accredited academic fields of study requested by the students, the following factors will be taken into consideration for placement purposes:

5. How can interested universities and colleges join the Consortium?

Eligible institutions may join the Consortium at any time.  Representatives of these institutions must be committed to accommodating the needs of the HCED in order to to support a smooth placement process for the Iraq scholarship students.   One official from each institution should contact the HCED directly to express interest and to provide relevant information about the institution.  This representative can email the HCED directly at academics@hcediraq.org for more information.

6. Where can I find information on student placements in the United Kingdom?

The British Universities Iraq Consortium (BUIC) is assisting in the placements of Iraqi scholarship recipients at institutions of higher education in the UK.  Information about placements in the UK can be found on the BUIC website: http://www.buic.ac.uk/.

Student Selection and Placements

The placement process will be carried out by the HCED.  In addition, students may secure their own admissions.

8. How will Iraqi scholarship recipients be selected?

The selection process for students is completely objective and transparent, based primarily on academic grades and test scores.  Students will be selected from every Iraqi province with the number of scholarships awarded proportionate to the provincial populations. To be considered for the scholarship, criteria for the applicants include the following:

• Citizen of Iraq and residing in Iraq for the past two years
• Excellent record of academic achievement
• Agreement to return immediately to Iraq upon program completion

Degree levels are undergraduate and graduate. More information is available on the HCED website http://www.hcediraq.org/

9. How will colleges and universities be selected to receive students?

Institutions will first be selected to receive students based on the ability to meet the following factors:

• Provisional (conditional) admissions
• One point of contact for admissions to programs
• ESL training onsite or nearby
• Issuance of DS -2019s so students travel on J visas
• SAT, GRE, TOEFL and other test waivers at time of acceptance
• Application fee deferrment or waiver
• Ability to accept an HCED application in lieu of the university application.

Other considerations for placement of students include students’ field of study and desired type of program, qualifications and other needs.  

The Pilot Program

10. When will the first students arrive?

In the pilot program, the first Iraqi scholarship recipients arrived in the U.S. in June of 2010.

11. How many students are expected to arrive in the U.S. in the pilot?

Approximately 250-300 students will be arriving during the pilot phase.  Contact the HCED directly for updated information at academics@hcediraq.org.

12. How many students will be placed at each college/university?

The HCED intends to place approximately 10-15 students pursuing degree programs in various fields of study at each institution of higher education per year. However, the number can vary.

13. When will schools be contacted if selected to receive students?

The HCED may apply students throughout the year. An HCED placement team would contact the university point person with an email regarding possible applications.

Admissions Processes and Student Demographics

14. What are the major fields of studies for which students will be applying?

Students will be applied in a wide variety of fields of study at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level.  However, Iraq’s education system offers a strong background in science and technology, and a number of students have expressed interest in pursuing degrees in Engineering, Agriculture, Computer Science, and Science. For a full list of the fields to which applicants were eligible to apply, go to the HCED Website and click on Eligibility, go to the bottom under Resources, and click on Fields of Study http://www.hcediraq.org/index_files/FieldStudy.htm.

15. How many undergraduate students are expected to be placed?  How many graduate students are expected to be placed?

The HCED expects to place ~500 students in colleges and universities in the US and UK in its pilot program.  In the pilot phase phase, students will be placed with institutions in roughly the same numbers in both countries.  The expectation is that approximately 75 students will pursue doctoral degrees, 275 will pursue masters degrees and 150 will pursue bachelor's degrees.  Of those students beginning undergraduate study, about 100 will be recent high school graduates and 50 will have had two years of technical college.  

The HCED has begun its selection of 1000-1200 students to begin study in 2011.

16. How will prior academic credentials be presented to colleges/universities?

Colleges and Universities selected to receive students will receive scanned copies of students’ transcripts.  Transcripts will be verified by the universities first, approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and verified by the Higher Committee for Education Development (HCED), and with HCED certifying all translations.

Testing Requirements and ESL

17. Will scholarships students be able to take the GRE or GMAT and other tests prior to arriving?

GRE testing is available very infrequently in Iraq.  Students will generally not have the ability to take the GRE, GMAT, LSAT or SAT prior to arrival in the U.S., hence the importance of conditional admissions. The HCED will offer several TOEFL exams in Baghdad and many, though not all, of the students will be able to take the test. This should help the U.S. institutions with ELT placement. Students are expected to need up to a year of ELT, though a very few may go into academic programs soon after their U.S. arrival.

HCED hopes that the U.S. ELT institutions will make arrangement for students to take the TOEFL when appropriate and that they can also help to arrange for other testing that is required for admissions into specific programs, especially graduate programs. It is also possible that students will benefit greatly from some pre-academic program courses and training when they are able to manage this, especially in areas of writing, research methods and critical reading, for example, if needed for a student's program. They will need as much practice as possible with writing.

18. What happens if a student does not pass the TOEFL/GRE/GMAT after arriving at the college/university?

The HCED believes that scholarship recipients will be able to meet testing requirements within or at the end of one year enrollment in an ELT program.  Students needing more than one year and/or further support to meet testing requirements will be handled on a case by case basis.

Student Housing

19. Will gender separated housing be necessary?

Housing for students will be handled differently at each university selected to receive students.  Decisions concerning student housing will depend on certain factors including student preferences, marital status, availability of on-campus housing, etc.   

Student Health Insurance

20. How will students provide evidence of vaccinations?  Will students be able to provide necessary health documentations?  Or, will students be able to receive vaccines upon arrival?

The HCED realizes that colleges and universities have individual requirements and preferences. The student will be informed of the required health documentation for his or her institution before departure. However, it is possible that the student may need to wait until arrival to receive the required health vaccinations and testing.  If it is not possible at your institution for an applied student to wait until arrival to complete the health related documentation, please point this out to the HCED representative with whom you are working.

21. How will students be covered by health insurance?

Iraq scholarship students must be able to enroll in the campus health insurance at the college or university at which they are placed.  They must be able to enroll in the campus health insurance even while they are enrolled in their ESL program.

Evidence of Financial Support

22. How will students be able to demonstrate their financial ability to provide for themselves and/or spouses and/or dependents?

The Iraq Education Initiative Scholarship program provides a full scholarship which will cover the student’s tuition, related study expenses, housing, food and support for spouses and dependents authorized to accompany the student.  A general financial certification letter will accompany all applications. Detailed documentation and certification of all financial allowances for the scholarship will be provided once students receive conditional admissions.