ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: Over 4,000 students and their parents visited the ‘Back to school fair’ organised by the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) in collaboration with the US embassy at a local hotel on Sunday.

The alumni of US colleges and universities were also present there to discuss with prospective Pakistani students studying in the United States for their higher education options.

There was representation of 44 universities of US and they provided all the relevant material including prospectus of universities to give information regarding admission to US universities.

Zafar Sheikh, a student who wants to go to US for higher studies, said it was nice to know that all the information regarding universities was available in the fair.

“Students mostly spend hours searching internet and after failing to get information about the universities, they pay thousands of rupees to agents who provide services to get admission and prepare documents for the admission and visa procedure,” he said.

“I have learnt lots of things which can even be beneficial for my friends and in future if I applied for admission to any university the experience I got here will help me,” he said.

Rita Akhtar, USEFP executive director, told Dawn that it was the second year that fairs were being held in Pakistan and on September 25 a similar event would be organised in Karachi.

“There are around 4,000 universities in the United States but unfortunately most of the people only know about four or five of them. So we decided to call top most 44 universities to Pakistan,” she said.

“After getting information about the universities, students will find more options and they will be able to get quality education in different universities of US,” she said.