major role in the development of budget in the country for fiscal years. Since revitalized in 2002, the commission's budget increased up to ~340.2% in terms of fiscal period of 2001–06. Around 50%–70% of federal budget is set for the development on science and higher education, particularly distributed to the commission, highest in the financial history of Pakistan. By 2008, as a result of its policy and financial successes, most universities had become strong proponents of the Higher Education Commission. Quality had increased significantly and several institutions were on their way to becoming world-class institutions. Many expatriate Pakistanis returned from abroad with access to competitive salaries. Besides the Pakistan government funding, a large financial endowment is distributed by the United States Government as part of its funding to the universities. Prioritizing the expansion of the higher education in the country, the commission's financial budget is estimated near 57.8 billion rupees, more than that of Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) or any other state-owned enterprises’ allocations. The budget is aimed for development of various areas in higher education. Impact of higher education reforms in Pakistan International praise Since the reforms in higher education have been carried out in 2002, commission has received praise from the international higher education observers. Atta-ur_Rahman has received number of prestigious international awards for the remarkable transformation of the higher education sector under his leadership. German academic Wolfgang Voelter of Tübingen University in Germany over viewed the performance of commission under the leadership of Atta-ur-Rahman and described the reforms as "A miracle happened." After teaching and visiting in 15 universities of Pakistan, Voelter wrote that the "scenario of education and science and technology in Pakistan has changed dramatically, as never before in the history of the country. The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Education recently announced the first 6 years of commission under Atta-ur-Rahman as "Pakistan's golden period in higher education". Recently, Thomson Reuters in an independent assessment of Pakistan's progress in international publications has acknowledged that in the last decade there has been a fourfold increase in international publications and a tenfold growth in highly cited papers, statistics that were better than the BRIC countries. American academic Fred M. Hayward has also praised the reform process undertaken by Pakistan, admitting that "since 2002, a number of extraordinary changes have taken place." Hayward pointed out that "over the last six years almost 4,000