Feb 05, 2013 02:22 AM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

The Allama Iqbal Open University launched a three year partnership with San Jose State University to increase access to online learning across Pakistan.

"Online learning would open university doors to thousands of Pakistanis," U.S. Embassy public affairs officer, Kathryn Schalow, told Pakistan Today.

The partnership is expected to offer new teaching methods, joint research programs, faculty exchanges and curriculum updates.

This launch marks the sixth initiative undertaken between the U.S. and Pakistani universities.

Other universities that have entered into such partnerships include- Fatima Jinnah Women's University and the University of Texas at Austin; the National University of Modern Languages and the University of North Texas; Quaid-i-Azam University and Ball State University; the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women's University and Southern Methodist University; Iqra University and Ball State University.

The U.S. has planned to invest around $8.6 million over the next three years on partnerships that focus on subjects such as American studies, business administration and management sciences, mass communications and media studies, psychology, social anthropology, and women and gender studies.

The project also includes the creation of centres for advanced studies in all Pakistan universities to focus on energy, water and agriculture.

Previous efforts to improve education access in Pakistan include U.S.-funded scholarships, which helped more than 12,000 poor students to attend college.

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