The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has partnered with Morgan State University (MSU) in the US to enable more Nigerians to gain admission for doctoral and postdoctoral programmes at the institution.
According to the varsity, the collaboration will bring over 70 Nigerian doctoral students and 15 postdoctoral students to MSU for scholarship and research during the next semester.
It also disclosed that the first-of-its-kind partnership has resulted in significant increase in applicants which yielded more admissions into the varsity.
David Wilson, MSU’s president, commended the federal government for the initiative, explaining that such would bring about social advancement and economic development in Africa.
“The leadership team of Morgan State University extends its thanks to the Federal Government of Nigeria, Executive Secretary Suleiman Bogoro and the TETFund for this unique and historic opportunity to achieve our common goals in social advancement, economic development and most important the academic exchange and advanced degree attainment within the African continent,” he said.
Wilson added that although the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic delayed implementation of the programme, the insitution remains committed to making it a success.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, while it slowed the implementation of this partnership, also has provided our organizations with a greater motivation to move forward with our joint plans, by reminding us just how interconnected the world is today,” he added.
“This partnership between Morgan and the TETFund reflects the future of higher education, a future that will be increasingly international and collaborative.”
On his part, Yacob Astatke, assistant vice president for Morgan’s division of international affairs, said that over 600 students have so far applied through the initiative.
The MSU-TETFund partnership was launched in May 2020 but the programme’s timeline was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic during its inaugural year.
The development had prompted 17 Nigerian PhD students to engage in virtual and/or in-person learning at MSU in fall 2020 through spring 2021.
The varsity said “the TETFund’s five-year agreement with Morgan is designed to create a pathway for students to pursue PhDs and postdoctoral research in disciplines relevant to the developmental needs of Nigeria and move Morgan further toward fulfillment of its global aspirations.”
“The partnership’s framework enables early, mid-level and senior career faculty and staff members of Nigeria’s 238 public universities, colleges of education and polytechnics to pursue their Ph.Ds. and postdoctoral research at Morgan in fields ranging from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to the liberal arts,” it added.
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