8 Sep 2009

American Samoa bill requires students on scholarships to return

11:05 am on 8 September 2009

In American Samoa, if a bill introduced in the House is approved, students receiving government scholarships will be required to return to the territory to work after graduating.

The bill calls for the students to work for the same number of years that they received the scholarship.

It says a graduate who had a government scholarship will be expected to work in either the public or private sector, a non profit organization or the US Armed Forces.

If a student doesn't return and work, the scholarship would be converted to a student loan and would need to be repaid in full with interest.

Each year, returning American Samoa graduates face difficulties finding jobs in government, and many end up leaving the territory to look for work in Hawaii or on the US mainland.