Services for U.S. Colleges and Universities

The United States Educational Foundation in Nepal (USEF-Nepal) houses Nepal’s only ‘EducationUSA’ advising center, part of a global network of 450 advising centers supported by the U.S. Department of State in 170 countries. We are delighted to be your point of contact and source of information in Nepal!

USEF-Nepal offers U.S. colleges and universities a variety of services. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if there’s any other information or assistance we can provide.

COLLEGE INFORMATION SESSIONS

The next time your travels bring you through South Asia, please consider stopping over in Nepal, where interest in U.S. higher education is at an all-time high! USEF-Nepal will be delighted to arrange a college information session during your visit, gathering groups of 60-80 pre-registered students who want to learn about your college. Our auditorium and multimedia facilities are available for your use. We can also put you in touch with school administrators to arrange for school visits during your stay in Nepal as well as facilitate your accommodation bookings if necessary. Please be in touch by email at least four weeks before your planned visit and we will send you information and guidelines for college information sessions.

TRANSCRIPT ATTESTATION

In Nepal, most students receive only a single original (“official”) copy of transcripts and certificates. When applying to U.S. colleges, students send attested photocopies in place of official transcripts. Unfortunately, fake transcripts are on the rise in Nepal. Please encourage Nepali students applying to your college to send you copies of their original documents attested either by USEF-Nepal or the issuing university or examination board. USEF-Nepal attests hundreds of documents daily, scrutinizing each one before attesting copies, and verifying results with issuing boards when necessary. USEF-Nepal’s attestation services have been available to Nepali students for over twenty-five years. Many U.S. universities are already insisting on USEF-Nepal attested copies of academic documents.

INFORMATIONAL/ PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS DISPLAY

USEF-Nepal’s library averages 200-300 visitors daily, rendering it one of the busiest advising centers in the region. The library houses college guidebooks, test preparation materials, and college catalogs. It also has a display of college pennants. To make more information available about your college, please update our library with your college catalog and pennant. You may also feel free to send us application forms and brochures for free distribution to interested students. USEF-Nepal also posts scholarship announcements for international students; please forward yours in print or electronic form.

INFORMATION TO STUDENTS VIA E-GROUP

USEF-Nepal disseminates information to students via its e-group, which currently has over 3,500 subscribers. Does your college have a new scholarship announcement for international students and wish to spread the word around the world? One of the most effective ways to do this is by sending the announcement to an EducationUSA REAC (Regional Educational Advising Coordinator). REACs compile ‘EducationUSA Weekly Updates’ that they send to all advising centers. In Nepal alone, this message is immediately sent over our e-group and gains great readership. REAC contact information can be located on the EducationUSA website: http://educationusa.state.gov

Information on Nepal’s Educational System

USEF-Nepal is pleased to be your point of contact for information about Nepal and trends in Nepali student mobility. The following is a brief and generalized description of the educational system in Nepal.

HIGH SCHOOL

In general, students in Nepal take the nationally administered and monitored School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exam at the end of Grade 10. Known as the “Iron Gate” of the Nepali educational system, in 2009, only 68% of the approximately 343,000 students taking the SLC passed the examination.

The SLC is followed by an Intermediate Level program, a Plus 2 program from Higher Secondary Examination Board (HSEB), or a PCL (Proficiency Certificate Level) program under Tribhuvan University, usually 2 years (but sometimes 3), after which the student has similar credentials to an American high school graduate. There are some secondary schools in Nepal that offer the University of Cambridge (UK)-GCE 'O' and 'A' level degrees. 'A' level is usually regarded as the equivalent of a US high school diploma.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

Bachelor's programs in Nepal are 3 or 4 year programs (5 years for architecture and certain other fields). Students who complete the latter are eligible to pursue their master's in the U.S. Students with a three-year bachelor's are commonly considered by U.S. colleges as missing one year of a typical American undergraduate program. Such students could choose to complete their master's in Nepal or elsewhere and then consider the U.S. for graduate study. Alternately, they could choose to transfer their credits to an undergraduate program in the U.S., where they would spend between 1 and 3 years obtaining their bachelor's degree.

GRADUATE STUDIES

Most master's programs in Nepal are 2 years.  PhD programs are also available.

Grading System

In terms of grades, most Nepali institutions do not use GPA.  Our percentage system/ system of 'divisions' does not convert to GPA.  Colleges in the US that require an accurate conversion usually use the services of a credential evaluating agency.

Six Universities in Nepal

There are six universities in Nepal: Tribhuvan, Mahendra Sanskrit, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Purbanchal, and B.P. Koirala Institute of Health and Sciences (all of these are recognized by Nepal’s Ministry of Education – www.moe.gov.np – to grant degrees). Kathmandu University is the only fully private university. Most colleges in Nepal are affiliated to one of the six universities and hence a student graduating from any college in Nepal is issued a degree under the seal of one of the six above mentioned universities.

U.S. Embassy in Nepal

The website of the United States Embassy in Nepal is www.nepal.usembassy.gov

Contact Information

Mailing Address:

EducationUSA Advising Center

U.S. Educational Foundation in Nepal (USEF-Nepal)

Gyaneswor

PO Box 380

Kathmandu

Nepal

Courier Address:

EducationUSA Advising Center

U.S. Educational Foundation in Nepal (USEF-Nepal)

Gyaneswor

Kathmandu

Nepal

Tel: 4414-598

Telephone: (+977-1) 4414-598/ 4444-780

Fax:(+977-1) 4410-881

Email: adviserusef@fulbrightnepal.org.np