REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A US agency has awarded scholarships to 31 young Indonesian students under the USAID's program to provide scholarships to achieve sustainable impacts (PRESTASI).

"USAID's scholarships program is a great opportunity for bright and talented professionals to earn graduate degrees in the United States and Indonesia," said USAID Mission Director Andrew Sisson at the US Embassy here on Wednesday, Nov 6.

The 31 scholarships were selected from 840 applications submitted by students from across Indonesia.

"Upon their return to Indonesia, they will join a group of USAID scholars who are now working throughout the archipelago to improve their communities and help Indonesia on its path to success," Sisson said.

Since 2007, USAID scholarship programs have supported 183 Indonesians for short term training and 31 Master's and Doctoral degrees in various universities in the United States and Indonesia.

PRESTASI is one of the US Embassy's education initiatives that support the US-Indonesia comprehensive partnership.

Under this scholarship program, applicants are freely chosen to apply to any universities they desire, based on their own interest in any majors office of education official, US embassy, Margaret Sancho.

Sancho also said that this program has been awarding scholarships for many years and several thousand Indonesian students have participated, and currently there are about 100 Indonesians studying through this program in the United States.

"Hopefully, more Indonesians are interested in studying in the US," she said.

Indonesian students are mostly enrolled at universities they have heard of, such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, California State University and University of Pennsylvania, but there are also other universities that have good programs for their studies.

Before the scholarship recipients depart for the US, they must improve their English proficiency skills here in Indonesia by attending a six month English course.

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