Seoul-area Korean students can take advantage of a scholarship which would allow them to study at a U.S. university at in-state prices.

John Fox, director of the International Students Program at Georgia Southwestern State University, introduced its tuition waiver scholarship program for international students during a presentation Saturday. 

Through the program, students who meet the qualifications will be able to save about $3,500 a semester by avoiding out-of-state fees.

The Center for Asian Studies, which operates the English Language Institute at Georgia Southwestern, hopes to bring cultural variety to U.S. colleges.

The scholarship is guaranteed for one year and students may reapply for the following years as long as they meet the requirements, said Fox. According to the CAS, some 85 percent of their Japanese international students have received the scholarship until they graduate.

Once students complete the mandatory program at the ELI, a subsection of the CAS, students will be placed in one of the 17 colleges and universities participating in the tuition waiver program. They included Minnesota State University, the University of Missouri and Georgia Southwestern, whose alumni include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

After the State of Georgia and Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture established a sisterhood relationship 20 years ago, they have seen roughly 500 students take advantage of the scholarship.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)