Study Abroad Scholarships
From Affiliate Programs
Stephens College works with several programs to ensure quality programming and safety while our students study abroad. These affiliates also offer scholarship. Scholarships vary in amount and qualifiers. They also have varied application deadlines. Students seeking scholarships can review the following Web sites and should be making applications a year prior to studying abroad.
Outside Scholarships
- Boren Scholarship
The Boren Scholarship provides up to $20,000 to US undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to US interests and are underrepresented in study abroad programming. There are also Boren Scholarships for US graduate students. - Freeman-ASIA
Freeman-ASIA accepts applications from U.S. citizens or permanent residents studying at the undergraduate level at a two-year or four-year college or university who demonstrate financial need to study abroad in East or Southeast Asia. - Fulbright Program
- Fund for Education Abroad
- Global Studies Foundation Student Grant
- Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program
Gilman Scholarship Application Tips
Personal essay tips
*Stress your uncommon characteristics. These include, but are not limited to: first-generation college student, ethnic minority, disability, etc.
*The Gilman places heavy emphasis on studying outside of traditional locations (Western Europe, Australia, etc), but this does not automatically disqualify you from receiving Gilman funding. Be certain to explain how your choice of location is the best option in relation to your studies.
*Remember that you are going on a study abroad program, not travel abroad program. Focus on how the experience will strengthen you professionally, personally and academically.
*Mention the length of your program and the number of credit hours you plan to receive, especially if the number is unexpectedly high for the amount of time that you will be abroad.
*Mention your major, especially if it is a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) major.
*If you plan to study a critical need language (check the Gilman website), be sure to mention the language and specifically refer to it as a critical need language in your essay. This places you ahead of other Gilman applicants and puts you in a pool for an additional scholarship offered by the Institute of International Education.
*Do not assume the reader knows anything about you or that the reader values study abroad. You must justify why it is important.
*any GPA is considered, but if your GPA is particularly low, offer an explanation. This is especially true if a single semester is responsible for the average and your academic performance has improved.
*Make an appointment with the ARC to critique your essay!
Follow-on proposal tips:
*According to a past essay panelist for the Gilman, “The most important thing is that they have a clearly stated target audience, that the project meets the goals of promoting study abroad and the Gilman, and that it seems feasible that they can complete it within six months of their return.”
*Speak to anyone you plan to work with to carry out your proposed project before writing the essay, especially if your project needs any kind of approval or permission. Include that you have already received the permission or approval and that your project is lined up or in progress by being set-up.
*Your target audience should be neither too broad (an entire university) not too narrow (50-100 people). If possible, look for an underrepresented group to which you can promote study abroad and the Gilman.
*Regardless of how powerfully your project comes across, it will not be chosen unless it fulfills the goals of promoting study abroad and the Gilman.
- Killam Fellowship – available for undergraduate students who are interested in studying in Canada.
- GTOS Study Abroad Scholarship
This is a $2,000 scholarship awarded on a quarterly basis. Applications are based on innovation and reasoning. It is a general study abroad scholarship (any major) and sample questions for the essay are posted in the website. - International Education Fund (IEF), a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity that mentors and offers transformative global learning opportunities to motivated at-risk students who traditionally have been, and continue to be, under-represented in overseas exchange. IEF creates learning options abroad for young people who are or will become first-gene! ration college students with the goal of training a diverse, internationally aware and engaged cadre of world citizens for the critical challenges of the global 21st century. These youth represent the future of an increasingly diverse U.S. population whose incorporation in the American dream is fundamental to actualizing the promise of equality inscribed in the nation's very founding.
Scholarship Search Engines
- The Institute of International Education
The Institute of International Education (IIE) provides this web-based resource for Study Abroad Funding to help students find scholarships and grants to help support their overseas studies. - Scholarships for Multicultural Students
Scholarship resources specifically for students of color, compiled by Michigan State University - College Board Scholarship Search
