A learner meeting a couple of graduates somewhere in America (7)
I believe the answer is:
alabama
'somewhere in america' is the definition.
(US state)
'a learner meeting a couple of graduates' is the wordplay.
'a couple of graduates' means two substitutions for 'graduate'.
'a learner meeting' becomes 'ala' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'graduate' becomes 'BA' (someone with a Bachelor of Arts degree).
'graduate' becomes 'MA' (abbreviation for Master of Arts).
'ala'+'ba'+'ma'='ALABAMA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alabama that I've seen before include "US state, capital Montgomery" , "American state, capital Montgomery (7)" , "SE US state" , "US state west of Georgia" , "US state in which Birmingham is situated" .)