About USAP
USAP students represent the best and brightest students of their nation. They aspire to broaden their horizons and share ideas and perspectives with a diverse array of people. USAP participants are selected for embodying all of the following four qualities:
• Academic excellence
• Demonstrated leadership potential
• Ethos of giving to community
• Economic disadvantage
USAP does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, religion, age or disability nor does it use these criteria in its selection. While we make a genuine effort to recruit USAP students from all provinces and areas in the countries our program is present, we do not set quotas for geographic or ethnic distribution but seek the students who meet all four of our criteria.
USAP began in Zimbabwe in 1999 with the aim of providing access to higher education for determined, bright, low-income youth, thus producing highly-skilled and liberally-educated leaders for tomorrow’s Zimbabwe. More than two decades later, more than 500 Zimbabwean USAP students have excelled as students at America's top colleges and universities, and many are continuing graduate studies or are working all over the globe. Through the years, students from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia have also benefitted from the program.
USAP provides many benefits to colleges and universities – pre-screened, well-rounded applicants, focused, committed and involved students, and economically-diverse international students.
In 2019, the USAP Community School opened its doors in Zimbabwe. The USAP Community School is a residential 11th and 12th grade (A Level) school that educates high-achieving, low-income Zimbabwean students to excel at the world's top universities and return home to build society.
If you have any more questions about USAP, please take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page. If your questions are still not answered, please feel free to contact us.