College of Business graduate student Mohamed Almajed's long-time dream was to study in the United States. He heard stories from his father, Bader, about how the experience changed his life.
“My father studied computer science in the U.S.in the 1980s and told me how it helped him make life-long connections and become a more independent person. He was very successful,” Almajed says. “Hearing him talk about life in the United States, I’ve wanted to study here since I was a child.”
For the past 10 years, the 28-year-old finance professional from Bahrain — Almajed works in Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy, where he’s issued loans on the international and domestic side — looked for opportunities. Last year, he found one. Almajed applied and was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to study at UM-Dearborn in the College of Business’ Master in Finance program. He moved to Dearborn and started his classes in the fall.
“Out of the 100 applicants in my country, I was selected. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to study at UM-Dearborn. My courses have been challenging, but they are led by professors who treat you well and give you the information needed to be successful. I expected my classes to be challenging, but what I didn’t prepare for is how cold it would be. How do people do it?,” asks Almajed, noting that Bahrain's coldest month of the year, January, averages 65 degrees. “You wake up to all this ice and snow on your car. It is beautiful, but it has taken some getting used to.”
Almajed is one of the Fulbright Scholars studying at UM-Dearborn this semester. Office of International Education Assistant Director Emlly Wang says, in the past, the university typically had one or two international Fulbright students at a time — but this academic year there are four. In addition to Bahrain, current Fulbright Scholars are from Cambodia, Kenya and Panama. They all started in the fall and will be on campus until they complete their degree programs. Reporter will be sharing these students’ stories in the next three Tuesday editions.
Fulbright applicants hoping to study in the U.S. list their top university choices, with the Fulbright organization matching them based on academic fit.
“We are becoming more noticed as a destination for Fulbright Scholars to study,” Wang says. “I attribute this to UM-Dearborn’s diverse community, our growing graduate programs and the faculty research happening here. It makes the university attractive for students to list us as a top choice.”
With budget being a major consideration for Fulbright university applicants, she adds that the affordability of the region, along with UM-Dearborn’s tuition costs and scholarship packages, make it attainable. According to a January 2025 Apartments.com comparison, the cost of rent in Dearborn is 21% lower than the national average.
“Students from around the world thrive here,” Wang says. “We at UM-Dearborn believe in providing opportunities for all students. As a community, we ensure that we can make a difference in people's lives here and around the world.” She says faculty and staff from across the university look for ways to make Fulbright students feel at home in a new country. For example, members of the UM-Dearborn community typically help students find furniture and transportation, along with helping them navigate grocery stores and find events to attend like the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Almajed says he’s felt this hospitality, especially in the classroom. Even with the rigor of his graduate-level finance courses, he says his professors — especially COB faculty Vivek Singh, Mercedes Miranda and Zhixin (Jason) Liu — are very supportive and welcoming.
“In addition to my professors being experts in the fields, they are also very patient and understanding. They also have lived and studied in other countries before coming to the U.S. They understand what it is like to move somewhere new that’s away from your family to build a life,” he says. “Their kindness helped make the transition easier.”
With the first semester in the books, Almajed says he did well in his classes and passed the Bloomberg Market Concepts Certification through his course with Singh. Almajed looks forward to branching out beyond studies for the winter semester and plans to find a finance internship for the summer and take a trip to Chicago in the spring.
Almajed says his experience has been personally fulfilling and he expects it to help him professionally too. He believes understanding finance from a U.S. perspective and learning how other countries handle debt will help him as the Bahrain Ministry of Finance’s head of domestic issuance, as his home country is currently looking at ways to curb inflation.
“I plan to build relationships and gain knowledge that I will take back with me to Bahrain. I want to help build connections between these two homes of mine, just like my father did. I wish I could live this moment with him. My father passed in 2013 when I was 16 years old,” Almajed says. “But he's always with me because he continues to guide me. I know he’s seeing all the things I am accomplishing. I hope he’s proud.”
Not only is this experience beneficial to Fulbright students like Almajed — it also brings another layer of international experience at the university. For example, Wang says, a UM-Dearborn undergraduate student recently spoke with Almajed about what it’s like to live in Bahrain. The student has family history in Bahrain and wants to teach there, but has not traveled internationally.
“For our UM-Dearborn students who haven’t had the opportunity to travel yet, these students open windows into what life is like somewhere else. The Fulbright program fosters mutual understanding between nations and advances knowledge across communities. The world would have fewer conflicts with more understanding among nations and people if we had more exchanges like this,” Wang says. “The Fulbright program gives us an opportunity to live and learn with people from different cultures so we can all become a part of a wider global network.”
Story by Sarah Tuxbury
