The Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission in the United States will celebrate the graduation of class 2008 of about 400 Saudi students in the US. It is the first batch of students sent on the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Program for scholarships. Saudi cultural attaché in the US, Dr. Mohammad Al-Esa, said more than 17,000 Saudi students have been studying in the US on the King's scholarship program majoring in medicine, engineering, law, accounting and management. There are still 3500 girls and 3883 men in the first stage of learning English, 7,983 students halfway with their bachelor's degrees, 3,021 students are working on their master's degrees, in addition to 687 students registered in the doctoral programs. Al-Esa noted that students on scholarship are received at the airport, helped with accommodation, and informed about academic affairs and US laws and lifestyle. He said the Saudi ambassador to the US is personally following up with students' affairs as to their visas and delays at airports. “The ambassador held talks with a number of US home security and immigration officials to help facilitate visa processing and airport procedures for Saudi students,” he said. There are more than 60 clubs for Saudi students tasked with setting up cultural and social activities for Saudi students in the US. The number of clubs is expected to increase to 200 by next year, he said.
