BNC Best Practice of the Month – Maximizing Student Advising

BNC Best Practice of the Month – Maximizing Student Advising

 This months best practice is taken from our recently finalized BNC Standards.  Promoting study in the United States is a top priority of the U.S. Government and BNC students are prime candidates for possible study in the U.S.  All BNCs, whether or not they have official student advising offices, should have teachers announce in appropriate classes at least once per semester that if students are interested in studying in the U.S., information and assistance are available.  Interested students should be referred to the BNCs student advising office or a student advising office at a nearby BNC, as well as to the EducationUSA websites (described above), and to any materials the BNC has about Study in the USA.   Especially talented students who may not be able to afford to pay U.S. tuition or all the testing and other fees associated with applying to study the U.S. may qualify for Opportunity Grants which assist with the costs associated with applying to U.S. universities.  Many U.S. universities offer full scholarships to outstanding foreign students who cannot afford their tuition; for example, several former Youth Ambassadors who received Opportunity Grants are now studying at top U.S. universities with full scholarships. 
For BNCs without official student advising offices:  If you havent already, please establish a relationship with a nearby BNC that has an official advising office and put in place procedures for referring your students.   The BNC Standards also suggest creating a shelf of basic information, such as  a list of helpful websites (EducationUSA sites above, Fulbright, etc.) and pamphlets and books with information about studying in the U.S.
For BNCs with official student advising offices:  If you are contacted by a nearby BNC without a student advising office, please work with them to develop a simple process for referral of their students to your advising office for assistance.  If you have extra resources you could share  - website lists, pamphlets, books with information about studying in the U.S. , please consider sharing these resources with BNCs which do not have student advising offices so they can have basic information easily available to their students.
If your BNC would like to contribute a best practice to share with other BNCs, please submit the idea to Tara Rougle at Rouglete@state.gov.

Consulado Americano de São Paulo