CAMBRIDGE, Mass. July, 2008: The Asian University for Women Support Foundation (AUWSF) just received a $1.4 million grant from The Goldman Sachs Foundation to fund the continued operation of the Asian University for Women’s Access Academy in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The Access Academy is the University’s flagship program designed to prepare talented young women from all across Asia, and especially from socially and economically marginalized settings, for entrance into the University. The students enrolled in the Academy receive intensive training in English, mathematics and computer science prior to the beginning of their university education. All students attending the Access Academy do so on full academic scholarship, providing for all their needs, including tuition, room and board, and health care.
The latest grant from the Goldman Sachs Foundation brings the support from the Foundation to a total of $2.8 million, following a $1.4 million grant made in 2006. AUW has also received support from a range of other contributors including the Open Society Institute, USAID, Packard Foundation, Citigroup Foundation, Chevron Foundation, Nike Foundation, Morgan Stanley Group, and a host of individual contributors from the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong and Bangladesh.
Scheduled to open its doors to students in September 2009, AUW undergraduate program will be a vibrant residential learning community where highly talented women from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds will develop their intellectual and personal potential. The University will offer a five-year integrated program leading to a combined Bachelor's and Master's degree. One of the fundamental goals of the Asian University for Women is to cultivate successive generations of women leaders who possess the skills and resources to address the challenges of social and economic advancement of the region.
###
If you would like more information, please call Gena Nolin at 617-914-0516, or e-mail gena.nolin@asian-university.org.
