Image Courtesy of Pexels
By Han Psalma
Southwestern College’s service area stretches from National City to the Mexican border, and from Coronado to…Abu Dhabi.
SC is one of the 12 community colleges in the United States to host recipients of the Khotwa Scholarship, which offers students in Abu Dhabi a full ride to colleges in the U.S. and Canada to complete their Bachelor’s degrees.
In contrast to other Middle Eastern study abroad programs, this scholarship aims to help students in the United Arab Emirates who are financially challenged as opposed to wealthier students. Representatives from ICEF, the world leader in international education networking, claim the Khotwa Scholarships work toward United Nations Sustainable Development goals on equity.
Dr. Joel Pilco, SC’s Director of Binational and International Programs, said he saw an opportunity while attending the ICEF World Student Scholarship Programme in Dubai.
“It was perfect timing,” he said.
Pilco said he met a representative of the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) who introduced him to the KHOTWA Scholarship. He learned that ADEK had not yet chosen a community college in San Diego County. Pilco said he made his introductions and in short order Southwestern was accepted as a host college.
At the time SC had less than 50 international students. Pilco said diversity in a college student body benefits everyone on campus.
“We are giving domestic students the chance to interact with someone who thinks and looks differently,” he said. “These students may see social, political and educational issues differently. That’s a huge gain.”
Pilco said there has been a lull in international student programs at SC since arrangements with Qatar and Saudi Arabia ended. Nearly 200 Saudi students attended SC from 2015-17. It evolved into a graduate level program in 2018 and students stopped coming to Chula Vista. Qatar students left SC due to the program director’s disapproval of Southern California culture.
Southwestern has accepted 10 Khotwa scholars so far and Pilco said he expects more soon.
“We have 100 majors on five campuses to choose from and a great location,” he said. “I am confident more Khotwa students will enroll. My goal is to have 300-500 students in coming years. We should eventually have at least 800 students.”
