BCIE: 20 foreign Universities jostle for Nigerian students

The Regional Manager, Southern Nigeria, British Canadian International Education, Ms. Funmi Ogunleye, has confirmed that over 20 foreign universities will participate in the 2013 Edufair of the BCIE.

 Ogunleye said this while briefing the press about the 2013 Edufair scheduled for Lagos and Abuja between June 4 and 8 in Lagos last Wednesday. The visiting institutions, she said, would use the occasion to offer admissions to Nigerians desirous of foreign higher education.

 According to her, the fair will provide Nigerians seeking admission to universities in UK, Canada, Australia and United States of America the opportunity to secure early admission for the September 2013 and January 2014 admission streams.

 Some of the universities expected to be at the fair include University of Sunderland, Leeds Metropolitan University, Coventry University, University of Wales, Bangor, Anglia Ruskin University, University of Hull, University of Worcester and University of Derby.

 Ogunleye said that admission seekers who applied during the fair to non-UK universities would not pay for the process, adding that they could also secure scholarship opportunities.

 “Prospective students will have the opportunity to meet one on one with representatives of some top universities in the UK, Canada, US and Australia.

 They may obtain on the spot admissions, get scholarship advice, get the chance to win scholarship based on academic qualifications and also meet the British Council and British High Commission for advice on how to secure student visa,”she added.

 Ogunleye, however, advised parents and admission seekers to study the brochures of these institutions well before they made their choice of programmes.

 “Each university has its strong point in terms of courses but many people make the mistake of just selecting universities because of their general ranking without verifying the ranking and quality of their partner institutions.

 This is not good enough,”she noted. “We look at student preferences especially in terms of what they can afford.

 A student may want to go to Harvard but the question is can that student afford the cost of a Harvard education? So we look at the budget and qualification of the student. On our part, we try as much as possible to mix by bringing both the high ranked and middle ranked universities.” she said.