How are the students screened and what type of criteria do they need to have to be accepted to the ISP?
Students complete an application form they can download from the ISP website. The application is reviewed by ISP board members living in Damascus. At the next step, students are interviewed and there may then be a meeting with the student’s family. But even when the student begins to work with ISP, the process continues. The criteria include emotional resiliency and good physical health, adequate documentation including academic records, strong motivation toward study, English language abilities as measured by TOEFL scores that meet university criteria, support from their families, clear economic need. ISP is for students who wish to study in the United States and then return to Iraq. ISP’s mission is to work with students whose education was disrupted by the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the continuing occupation and violence and have no other access to continuing their education. The likelihood of academic success is ISP’s constant measure.
