Twenty-five city students have been selected by University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) to get 66 per cent concession in tuition fees while doing a course at the university.

This facility is a part of Pune-Fairbanks North Star Borough (FDSB) Alaska, USA, sister city relationship. However, the response is much less as compared to the expectations of UAF office- bearers. The programme was declared in November 2008 by Timothy Barnett, Vice-Chancellor of UAF, in Pune. He had said they were looking at around 50 to 100 students from Pune who would avail of the concession.

This is the first time that the concession is being offered to domiciles of Pune. Students who get through will get 66 per cent concession for undergraduate courses and 50 per cent for postgraduate ones. This means that a Pune student will have to spend approximately Rs 2 lakh per year as tuition fees while studying at UAF as against Rs 6 lakh that any other student from the country would spend.

“Most of these 25 students have applied for postgraduate courses after completing their engineering course and admission has been confirmed for two in petroleum engineering. Admission for seven is in the final stages and all the students are expected to join their respective courses in August-September 2009,” said Umesh Joshi, the official mediating between the Pune students and the UAF.

The concession is applicable for all the 116 courses offered by the university.