Prime Highlights

• QF’s Francisco Marmolejo addressed NAFSA 2026 delegates on how US policies are shaping global student mobility.
• Dr. Al-Tamimi presented at the conference on scaling scholarship programmes for underserved students.

Key Facts

• HBCUs are universities established before the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, primarily to educate African American students. There are currently 107 such institutions.
• Qatar Foundation’s Education City hosts branch campuses of several leading international universities in a multicultural academic environment.

Background

Prairie View A&M, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University in Virginia have established study abroad programs with Qatar Foundation. These agreements will send HBCU students to Education City in Qatar for a semester. So, it brings US diversity to Qatar’s campuses through these exchanges.

The agreements were signed at the NAFSA 2026 Annual Conference & Expo in Florida, one of the world’s largest gatherings for international education professionals. The Embassy of the State of Qatar in Washington, DC, supported all three partnerships.

QF’s President of Higher Education, Francisco Marmolejo, said the agreements reflect the foundation’s goal of building globally connected, inclusive learning environments. He added that hosting HBCU students at Education City would enrich classroom discussions and deepen global understanding for both visiting and local students.

Executive Director of Student Services at QF, Dr. Abdulnassir Al-Tamimi, said the partnerships focus on meaningful, student-centred experiences. He noted that welcoming HBCU students and faculty to Qatar would give them direct exposure to the country’s culture and community, while QF’s own students would gain from the perspectives and histories that HBCU students bring.

Representatives from all three universities welcomed the partnerships. Hampton University’s Senior Vice President, Robert Pompey, called it a shared commitment to global education. Xavier University’s Provost, Marguerite Giguette, said it would broaden students’ academic and cultural horizons. Prairie View A&M’s Dr. Godlove Fonjweng described it as creating transformative global learning opportunities.