As we wind down the current KAEF recruitment and selection cycle, we’re quickly approaching the date on which the 2009 application for KAEF will be opened.  This year, we hope to have the application up and running by mid-April, and certainly by May 1st.

Last year, over 700 people started a KAEF application.  A little over 100 completed theirs.  This tells us a few things:

1. A number of people liked the idea of applying to KAEF, but once they saw what the process required, they didn’t follow through
2. A number of applicants probably started an application before they fully understood the program; once they learned more about the program, they decided it wasn’t for them.

We’re always trying to simplify and streamline the application process in order to address #1.  In order to address #2, I thought I’d devote the next ten blog posts to a simple question:

Should you apply to KAEF?

Over the next two weeks I’ll try to help you address this question.   We’ll look at the benefits (and drawbacks) of a program like KAEF, as well as the criteria it uses in selection, how you can evaluate your own chances of being accepted., and what the program will be like.

One more note before we begin:  although the material I provide will focus primarily on the KAEF program, I think a lot of the information will relate to other scholarship programs as well.

As always, please feel free to use the Comments section of the blog to submit any questions you have.

Table of Contents for “Should I Apply to KAEF?”

• Introduction
• The short answer
• Understanding the commitment involved
• Will your application be competitive?
• What host universities want
• Are there minimum requirements to be considered?
• Research can improve your chances
• Evaluating your career development
• Having a backup plan
• What if you don’t get it?

I thought it might be useful and interesting to excerpt from Barack Obama’s inauguration speech those passages that related most strongly to foreign policy:

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort – even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

Yesterday, in the initial post of this series, I promised to advance the hypothesis, “The education of future economic and political leaders abroad in graduate-level programs is a necessary (but not sufficient) step in any country’s continued economic and political development.”  In today’s post I look at an empirical example of a graduate program that claims to provide future leaders with exactly the skills they need to help their countries make such progress:  The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

The dean of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government writes that “at the heart of our school lies an abiding commitment to advancing the public interest by training leaders.”  This prestigious graduate program’s list of notable alumni indicates that it has had some success in its mission.  Alumni include Ministers, Ambassadors, Senators and Presidents.  Let’s hear again from the dean, Dr. David T. Ellwood:

Our graduates include: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon; World Bank President Robert Zoellick; Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon; Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; the first elected female president in Africa, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; and Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang.

According to the Kennedy School’s website, graduate-level education is a necessity today because “the greatest problems confronting our world today – from nuclear proliferation to climate change and entrenched poverty – are complex, interrelated and urgent.  At Harvard Kennedy School,” the site goes on to proclaim, “we ask what we can do to solve them.”

Students at the Kennedy school come from 93 different countries.  403 students are “international,” a figure that represents almost 45% of the student body.

It’s not an inexpensive school.  The yearly cost for a student is roughly $65,000.  The 901-member student body contributes 38.7 million dollars per year to the school’s operating budget.  Another $24.8 million comes from “sponsored revenue,” meaning funds provided by organizations in order to support students at the school (for example, the Kosovo American Education Fund currently has two students at the Kennedy School, and therefore KAEF makes up a tiny portion of that 24.8 million).

I bring up the Kennedy School and its “sponsored revenue” as a starting point in our discussion for a simple reason:  to demonstrate that organizations and nations are very willing to spend vast amounts of money providing  their citizens or their employees with a top-flight graduate education.  They obviously believe that the value added by the education at the Kennedy School is “worth it” – meaning that the benefits of providing that education to a particular student will outweigh the short-term monetary cost.

Are they right?  It seems to me that we are faced with two options in evaluating the Kennedy School and their students.  Either:

• The Kennedy School provides an education so valuable that the high costs are worth paying.  The “returns” to a country – expressed in the reform a graduate is able to generate upon returning to their nation or organization – are large enough to justify the large costs; OR
• The nations and organizations that support students at the school are mistaken.  The value added by the education provided does not outweigh the costs.  They are wasting their money.

I strongly suspect that the correct option is the first.  And I want to point out that any argument that providing graduate education is somehow a waste must answer the following question:  “If investing in graduate education for your citizens or employees is truly a waste of money, why do so many organizations do it?”

I believe that in fact providing graduate education is not a waste, and that the returns a country or organization receives from investing in one of its citizens or employees make schools like the John F. Kennedy School a very worthwhile investment.

What about you?  Let’s conduct a small thought experiment.   Let’s say that a distant relative, of whom you’ve never heard, sadly passes away and leaves you $1 million in his or her will.  There is a condition, however.  In order to claim the inheritance, you must immediately give half of it ($500,000) away to the education of your nations’ citizens.  That education can be at any level, at any institution, in any country, so long as it goes directly to providing student learning.

How much of that $500,000 will you give to sponsor graduate students, if any?  And of that amount, how much will you provide to sponsor graduate students at “elite” foreign universities?  (Please provide any answers and reasoning in the “Comments” section, and I’ll share your thoughts in future posts).

My guess is that most people, when faced with the above thought experiment, will respond by giving very little to graduate students, and almost nothing to sponsor graduate students at foreign schools.  My guess is that most people would direct the money to primary and secondary schooling.  My guess, in other words, is that most people do believe that the organizations and nations sponsoring students at The Kennedy School are, in fact, mistaken -  that the education provide by the School, while nice, is not nearly as important, or as good an investment, as more “basic” education for a larger number of people.

Having framed the question in this way, tomorrow we’ll investigate it further by looking at businesses that invest heavily in education, and the reasons that they do so.

Other posts in this series:

• Introduction
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven
• Part Eight

Many of the readers of this blog assume – correctly, in most instances – that attending a graduate school program in the United States will be beneficial for their own career.  Is there reason to believe that your graduate-level education abroad would be beneficial to your country as well?

Over the next two weeks we’ll be investigating this question in greater depth, and delving into many of the complicated questions surrounding a nation’s political and economic development.  At the outset, let me offer this sure-to-be-qualified hypothesis:

The education of future economic and political leaders abroad in graduate-level programs is a necessary (but not sufficient) step in any country’s continued economic and political development.

I italicized the word any because the provision of graduate-level education to an economy’s “managers” seems to me to be just as important for the so-called “developed” world as it is for the so-called “developing” world.  This is not one of those development topics where we can draw a clear line between countries that “have” a resource and countries that do not “have” it, and have to be instructed on how to “get” it.  This is for the simple reason that a person’s intellectual capacity can not survive their own death; therefore, each generation must be educated anew.  An infant in the United States does not have more management skills than an infant in the so-called “developing world.”  Those skills must, in both cases, arise through an educational process.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll see how including a graduate school education in that process can lead to positive outcomes not only for the individuals who are the subject of that education, but also for their broader society.

Other posts in this series:

• Introduction
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven
• Part Eight
• Part Nine
• Part Ten
• Part Eleven
• Part Twelve
• Part Thirteen
• Part Fourteen
• Conclusion

According to a new report out from the Council of Graduate Schools, the amount of applications from international students received by U.S. graduate schools increased just 3 percent last year.  What’s more, the vast majority of schools are receiving less applications now than they did in 2003.

About 60% of the institutions that responded to this survey in both 2004 and 2008 still have fewer international graduate applicants this year than they did in 2003.

The upside is that graduate schools are poised to devote more energy and resources to recruiting good international students:

“While the slowdown in the growth of international graduate enrollment continues, the very high proportion of deans initiating efforts to recruit international students signals that our graduate schools hope to sustain the country’s role as a leading destination for international graduate students,” said CGS President Debra W. Stewart.

Since its inception in early September, the KAEF blog has officially had one hundred posts.  Over that time, we’ve had 3,655 visitors to the blog.  We are proud to have shared with our readers information regarding the KAEF program and the US system of graduate education.

For those of you who are new to the blog, we thought this would be a good time to review what we’ve covered, and to provide you with some information about how you can become a part of the next 100 posts.  For those of you who are regular readers, please – share this post with your friends or colleagues.

So, since September, the KAEF blog has:

• profiled the experiences of KAEF alumni and current Fellows Seb Bytyçi, Edona Pacarada, Fortuna Haxhikadrija, Nita Gojani, Luan Dalipi, and Emira Talovic.
• provided extensive tips on how to do well in a professional or academic interview, including posts on confidence, preparation, correct answers to interview questions, interview “dos and dont’s”, the process interviewers use to construct their questions, paying attention to the small details of an interview (such as dress, manner of speaking, etc.), common interview formats, and the purpose of the interview in a selection process.
• shared resources for improving your standardized testing scores and writing a winning resume and personal statement.
• passed on information about getting into graduate or scholarship programs (not only KAEF), with posts on why graduate schools care about professional experience, graduate school rankings, the structure of the U.S. university system, the financial benefits of getting an advanced degree, a report of the number of Kosovars studying in the U.S., the impacts of the financial crisis on international student aid, and information about the life of graduate students; along with tons of links to useful sites.
• listed some valuable books and websites, including the best American business books and the best U.S. political websites.
• opened a small window onto American culture, with posts on a variety of subjects, including Columbus Day, A Prairie Home Companion (one of America’s most popular radio programs), American football’s ties to the university system, the baseball playoffs, and America’s vaunted research institutes.
• given valuable information about applying to the KAEF program, including a detailed application timeline and tips for getting your application in on time.

In short, we’re working extremely hard to provide you with as much information as possible about opportunities for you to increase your education in the U.S.  And we’re sharing some information about America while we’re at it.  If you’re new to the blog or have questions about how best to use it, check out our post, “How to use the KAEF Blog.”

Thanks to all of our readers for a fantastic first three months.  We are confident that the audience and usefulness of the blog will grow with time!

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has released its 2008 report card for American higher education. It can be downloaded and read absolutely free.

Here’s a lowlight:

The United States’ world leadership in college access has eroded steadily, as reflected in the international comparisons of the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college. In college completion, which has never been a strength of American higher education, the U.S. ranks 15th among 29 countries compared. The U.S. adult population ages 35 and older still ranks among the world leaders in the percentage who have college degrees — reflecting the educational progress of earlier times. Among 25- to 34-year-olds, however, the U.S. population has slipped to 10th in the percentage who have an associate degree or higher. This relative erosion of our national “educational capital” reflects the lack of significant improvement in the rates of college participation and completion in recent years.

Then, there’s this incredibly frightening graph relating to the cost of a college education:

Yes, that’s right – since 1982 the cost of a college education has increased 439%, while the income of an “average” American family has increased only 147% over the same time.

The report covers undergraduate education only, but the affordability numbers reflect general trends in the cost of higher education and will be eveident in the cost of graduate programs as well.

A fascinating new website allows you to see the level of education attained by U.S. residents (ages 25-34) by state or even by county.

In addition, you can look at the different levels of education attainment by states and select nations on this page.

What countries rank highest?  Canada, Korea and Japan.  Which countries (of those ranked) are lowest?  Mexico and Germany.  The state with the best level of educational attainment is Massachusetts.  The state with the worst level?  Nevada.

My own county – Alexandria City in Virginia?  63.4% of us have a college degree.  An astounding 35% have a graduate degree.  Yikes!  I better find a graduate school to apply to!

. . . Harvard announces a spending freeze:

Facing projections of a 30-percent drop in its endowment, Harvard will freeze salaries for faculty members and nonunion staff members, suspend nearly all searches for tenure-track and tenured professors, and place restrictions on hiring instructional faculty members, The Harvard Crimson reported today.

The announcement, which comes a week after Harvard revealed that its endowment had lost at least $8-billion since June 30, was sent to department heads in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences yesterday and will be the subject of a faculty meeting today, the newspaper said.

It looks like students who have graduate from a three-year undergraduate program in India will have their degrees recognized by U.S. graduate schools:

World Education Services, one of the largest foreign-credential evaluators for American and Canadian universities, has revised its assessment of India’s three-year undergraduate degrees, putting those rated A or higher by a national accreditor on par with American undergraduate programs. Until now, students in India needed to complete 16 years of academic work to be eligible for admission to graduate programs in the United States.

The move could sharply increase the already-high number of Indian students who apply to American universities. College graduates who now go abroad usually complete a year of a master’s-degree program in order to qualify for admission.

Beyond being an interesting tidbit of information, this article gives you an inside look at how universities work with foreign-credential evaluators like WES to assess the state of educational institutions abroad.  This issue is obviously relevant for students in Kosovo, and we’ll keep our ear to the ground about how Kosovo’s universities (public and private) are evaluated.