THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
General Directorate for Higher Education
EDUCATIONAL RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND THE USA
Educational relations between Turkey and the
USA goes back to 1930s.
The first office which represented the Ministry
in the USA was opened in Manhattan, NY, on the 73rd floor of the Empire State
Building (Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world at that
time).
The office has moved to Turkish Center later
and was called Office of the Educational Attache since then.
Consequently, sponsoring Turkish students for
graduate education in the US goes back to 1930s.
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The Ministry provides scholarship for
successful university graduates.
The criteria for the award of scholarship are:
GPA (at least 2.75 out of 4.00, 7 out of 10 and
70 out of 100)
55 at least from LES (Graduate Education Exam
given by University Selection and Placement Center twice a year.
Age limit
WHY THE MINISTRY GIVES SCHOLARSHIP ?
There are 76 universities in Turkey-53 of them
are State Universities and 23 are Foundation Universities.
There is a huge demand for qualified teaching
staff at the universities.
This scholarship is given to provide qualified
teaching staff for universities and State agencies.
Candidates know where they will be employed
before leaving the country.
HOW MANY STUDENTS RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIP?
Ministry of National Education decides how many
students will receive scholarship.
This decision is largely depends on the
availability of funds reserved by the Ministry of Finance for this purpose.
University
graduates who are eligible for the scholarship apply to ΦSYM (Student Selection
and Placement Center) each year. There is not a certain date for application.
Students who have the highest LES score are
awarded scholarship to pursue graduate education in certain European countries
or in the USA.
Students who have the required English
proficiency and prove it with TOEFL score-at least 550- are given 1 year to
receive an acceptance from a university.
Candidates
without required TOEFL score are taken to a test to measure their level of ESL
at METU-Department of Basic English.
Candidates who receive a high score (80-85 out
of 100) are considered to have proficiency and given 1 year to receive an
acceptance.
Other candidates have ESL course at METU, Dep.
Of Basic English for 8 or 9 months
ESL course serves as a pre-departure
orientation program for the candidates. Fulbright-Ankara gives information to
the candidates about university application process. Most of the candidates
receive an acceptance before or just after the end of the course.
Selection
of the universities
Candidates can apply to the appropriate
departments of the universities whose names are mentioned in the list prepared
by YΦK (Council of Higher Education).
J-1 visa (or IAP-66) is a requirement for the
sponsored students.
Candidates who get their visas leave the
-country a few days before the beginning of their academic program.
TIME GIVEN FOR EACH PROGRAM
Time given for the completion of MS/MA is two
years. Student who can not receive their degree within that time can be given
an extension not more than 1 year. Completion of MS/MA in time is a
precondition for the permission of Ph.D.
Time given for the completion of a Ph.D.
program is three years. Student who can not receive their degree within that
time can be given an extension not more than 2 years.
Most of the students are sent abroad to complete their MA/MS education
first. The ones who receive their MA/MS degree successfully are given the
opportunity of pursuing Ph.D. with the
scholarship.
COVERAGE OF THE SCHOLARSHIP
Students are paid $1100 each month+$1100 for
books&stationary once a year.
Their tuition, mandatory fees and health
insurance premiums, application&test fees-TOEFL, GRE and GMAT- are paid.
If the thesis research should be done in
Turkey, travel, stationary and printing expenses within Turkey+return ticket
bill are paid.
Expenses for master/Ph.D. thesis
are paid.
DISTRIBUTION
OF SPONSORED STUDENTS
Total Number of sponsored students: 845
Number of undergraduate students :
35
Countries:
USA :
689
UK : 76
France : 41
Germany : 38
Switzerland : 1
Students pursuing in Science : 500
(426 in the USA)
Students pursuing in Social Sciences : 345
(263 in the USA)
WHO HANDLES SPONSORED STUDENTS ABROAD?
There are 2 Turkish Educational Attaches (in
New York and Los Angeles) and 1 Educational Counselor (in Washington, DC) in
the USA.
Sponsored students are handled by the
Educational Attache in New York.
Attache has the authority and responsibility of
providing guidance to sponsored students.
ADDRESSES OF THE OFFICES WHICH REPRESENT THE MINISTRY IN THE
USA
Embassy of the
Republic of Turkey
Office of the
Counselor for Education
2525 Massachusetts
Ave. N.W
Washington, D.C.
20008
Tel: 202-612 68 10 Fax: 202 319 15 38
Turkish Consulate
General, Office of the
Educational Attache,
821 United Nations Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10017
Tel: 212- 687 83 95 Fax: 212 557 16 32
Turkish Consulate
General, Office of the
Educational Attache,
4801 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 311 Los Angeles,
CA 90010
Tel: 323-934 01 98 Fax: 323-934 68 27
323-934 01 49
STUDENTS SPONSORED FOR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION ABROAD
High school graduates who are placed amongst
the first 200 students at the university placement exam are awarded Government
scholarship to pursue BS/BA abroad.
They are asked to receive acceptance from top
universities only.
Most of them pursue BS/BA education in
Engineering, Medicine and Basic Sciences.
Those who receive their degrees successfully
are given the opportunity of pursuing master/Ph.D. education abroad.
DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS ACCORDING
TO THEIR FIELDS OF STUDY
Pre-school Education 40
Electrical-Electronics Engineering 31
Educational Technology 31
Basic Education 26
Science Education 25
Computer Science (Software) 24
Mathematics Education 18
English Education 18
Computer Science (Hardware) 17
Industrial Engineering 14
Social Sciences Education 13
Physics Education 12
Special Education 11
International Relations 11
Horticulture 11
Biology Education 10
Computer Engineering
9
Molecular Biology 8
Measurement&Eval. in Education 7
Chemistry Education
7
Policy of Economics
6
Food Science&Technology 6
Biotechnology 6
Applied Mathematics 6
Aquaculture 5
Political&Social Sciences 5
Operations Research 5
Management&Organization 5
Elementary Education 5
Economic Dev.&Int.Economics 5
Computer Science 5
Biochemistry 5
Agricultural Str.&Irrigation 5
THE
US UNIVERSITIES WHICH ATTRACT SPONSORED STUDENTS MOST
(undergraduate)
University of Southern California 13
Texas A&M 6
Purdue 4
Michigan Ann Arbor 2
Texas at Austin 2
University of Washington
2
Penn State 1
Pittsburgh 1
North Carolina State
1
Wisconsin-Madison 1
THE US UNIVERSITIES WHICH ATTRACT SPONSORED STUDENTS MOST
(Master-Their initial program abroad is
undergraduate)
Univ. Of California-Los Angeles 1
Cal Tech
1
Columbia
1
Stanford
1
Univ. Of California-Berkeley 1
Purdue 1
Michigan- Ann Arbor
1
Texas at Austin 1
THE US UNIVERSITIES
WHICH ATTRACT SPONSORED STUDENTS MOST
(Ph.D.-Their initial program abroad is
undergraduate)
MIT 4
Purdue 3
Northwestern 2
Univ. Of California-Berkeley 2
Stanford 2
Georgia Institute of Technology 2
Arizona State 1
University of Southern California 1
THE US UNIVERSITIES
WHICH ATTRACT SPONSORED STUDENTS MOST
(Ph.D.-Their initial program abroad is undergraduate)
Washington-St.Louis 1
RPI 1
University of Pennsylvania 1
Case Western Reserve University 1
University of Florida-Gainesville 1
Columbia 1
Pittsburgh 1
Texas at Austin 1
Michigan- Ann Arbor 1
THE US UNIVERSITIES WHICH ATTRACT SPONSORED STUDENTS MOST
(MS/MA)
Missouri-Columbia 36
Ohio State 18
Indiana-Bloomington 14
Texas A&M
9
Florida State 8
Arizona State
6
Penn State 4
Florida-Gainesville 4
University of Pennsylvania 4
Iowa State 3
THE US UNIVERSITIES WHICH ATTRACT SPONSORED STUDENTS MOST
Ph.D.
Indiana-Bloomington 33
Florida State 27
Syracuse 27
Ohio State 21
Florida-Gainesville 20
Wisconsin-Madison 19
Pittsburgh 17
Clemson 13
RPI 13
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 11
Arizona State 11