T

he United States has always been an attractive destination for students wishing to pursue higher education.

According to UNESCO data from 2010, 44.3 percent of international students from Asia chose to study in the US, making it one of the top-five destinations in the world for education.

It is estimated that the US is currently hosting 7,500 Indonesian college students.

Besides a good education, studying in the US also provides the opportunity to become a member of some of the most prestigious alumni associations in the world, before returning home to take up the lucrative job offers.

To make the most of these prospects, the US Embassy in Jakarta recently launched a cell phone application specifically targeting college graduates who have received the so-called '€œAmerican experience'€.

The mobile app is designed to enable anyone who studied in the US to connect with other members of the alumni community, much like most social media apps already in the market.

US Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Blake Jr. said that the app had been officially commissioned by the US Embassy to specifically target US alumni.

'€œIt'€™s a great opportunity for us to use this to communicate to them, but also for us to hear from them, and for them to share ideas among each other and then communicate back to us about ways we can do more to reach out to not only our alumni but to other Indonesians,'€ said Blake during the launch of the app at the US cultural center @America, in South Jakarta, late last week.

Blake, who opened the event before a crowd of US alumni from various universities and exchange programs, also said that the app was the first of its kind in the world.

Data from the Indonesian United States Alumni Association (Alumnas) said that there were more than 50,000 US alumni from Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Wuri Parmaitri, who is the alumni coordinator for the US Embassy, said that around 22,000 of those alumni had received funding from the US government through scholarships or exchange programs, such as the Fulbright Fund or Ford Foundation.

'€œAll Indonesian citizens who received an American education, regardless of funding source, could use the app,'€ Wuri told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

The app was the brainchild of Scott Milgroom, the assistant cultural attaché at the US Embassy in Jakarta, and was commissioned to a local software programming team to help the embassy keep tabs on alumni activities and solicit possible ideas for future cooperation schemes.

'€œWe want to maintain that friendly atmosphere, to connect and engage and share ideas for events and programs,'€ said Milgroom, adding that Indonesia was chosen to launch this pilot project because of the sheer number of alumni across the country and the potential it presents for development opportunities.