Wartburg College welcomed a new international student to campus as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan).

Muhammad Alam, of Karachi, Pakistan, will study engineering while on campus during the Winter and May terms.

The Global UGRAD-Pakistan program, which places participants at U.S. colleges and universities for one semester of non-degree academic study, is part of a broader U.S. Department of State effort to promote greater understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, including future world leaders. Since the program’s inception in 2010, Global UGRAD-Pakistan has provided nearly 1,900 talented, highly motivated undergraduate student leaders from underserved populations across Pakistan with the opportunity to study at a U.S. college or university.

Through semester-long academic study, exploration of U.S. culture, participation in community service projects and interactions with Americans in their host communities and campuses, Global UGRAD- Pakistan participants develop expertise in their academic fields, gain a broad and nuanced understanding of American culture and values, and go on to share this understanding of the United States with their communities when they return home. Over the past nine years, participants have volunteered more than 38,000 hours of service in communities across the United States.

Global UGRAD-Pakistan participants enrich the lives of the Americans they meet by sharing their unique viewpoints and backgrounds and bringing a global perspective to their host communities. These ties endure, with over 95 percent of program alumni maintaining relationships with Americans they met while in the United States.

The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. For more information about the program, visit: https://www.irex.org/ugrad-pakistan.