Studying abroad can leave you feeling enriched with new experiences and a refreshed perspective of the world. In some cases, depending on the country, you may even find it cheaper to study abroad than at your home campus. However, you may need to find study abroad scholarships or grants to get the financial support you need.
Keep reading as we’ve put together this list of study abroad scholarships and grants to make finding financial assistance easier.
1. Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
Started in 2001, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship has since gone on to support over 44,000 students in their international studies. You could receive as much as $5,000 on a merit-based scholarship, meaning they will award it based on your academic achievements, talents, or leadership abilities.
For students who study critical languages vital to U.S. security, you could receive $3,000 in additional funding. There are 15+ languages, but some of the eligible languages include Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Swahili, Turkic languages, Persian, Hindi, Urdu, and Japanese.
Those doing STEM research could receive as much as $1,000.
Requirements to Apply
To apply, you must meet the following requirements:
- You must be a citizen from the United States or a national.
- Must be someone under the Pell Grant scholarship, and you must provide proof of it.
- Must be an undergraduate student from an accredited two-year or four-year institution.
- The location abroad cannot have a Level 3 or Level 4 Travel Advisory from the U.S.
With whatever grant or scholarship you apply for, remember, deadlines are strict, so do not be even a couple of minutes late. For anyone who would like to learn more, please visit their website.
2. Fulbright U.S. Student Program
There is a Fulbright U.S. Student program where you can use one of their study abroad scholarships. This program was meant for graduate seniors, graduate students, and young professionals. The organization awards 2,000 grants every year and allows you to teach English in over 140 different countries for one academic year.
To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen and hold a bachelor’s degree before the grant starts. This one doesn’t necessarily say what you get because it depends on the host country, but it will cover things like transportation, monthly living expenses, accident or sickness insurance, books, research allowance, and often tuition. Typically, they give you a monthly stipend.
Requirements to Apply
If you want to apply for this one, you must meet the following requirements:
- Must be a U.S. citizen.
- Must have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent.
- Must have good enough language skills for the host country visit.
- Doctors can apply for advanced study, but they may not apply for internships or residencies.
For those who would like to learn more about the Fulbright U.S. Student program, you can check it out on their website.
3. Fund for Education Abroad (FEA)
If you want one of the study abroad scholarships, the Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) offers grants and scholarships of up to $10,000. The scholarship provides ongoing support to minorities and first-generation college students (see study abroad scholarships for first-generation college students here!).
One thing to keep in mind with this one is that language study is a huge advantage. If you’re going up against another applicant, and you’re studying a language and the other person isn’t, you will be given priority over the other person.
When filling out this application, it’s important to highlight how it will help you with your study abroad. Just don’t overly focus on it. Talk as well about how it will fit in with and help your life, since the ones giving the scholarships want to give it to someone where it will make the biggest difference.
Requirements to Apply
To apply for the Fund for Education Abroad scholarship, you must meet the following requirements:
- You must be either a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or DACA recipient.
- Must be enrolled as an undergraduate currently at a U.S. college.
- For the study abroad program, you must be at a credit-bearing location, but it can include non-traditional locations.
- Must demonstrate financial need is there having a Student Aid Index (SAI) of 20,000 on FAFSA, having taken out loans for the current year, or being eligible for a Pell Grant.
- Must study abroad for a minimum of 14 days, and must not have done this since at least high school graduation.
For those interested in the Fund for Education Abroad (FEA), you can apply for this scholarship on their website.
4. CIEE
Every year, CIEE awards millions in scholarships and grants for students to study abroad. This one helps you find different scholarships. You will find that they offer scholarships in three categories: need-based, merit-based, and other areas of funding. You can also find different scholarships available for your study abroad with CIEE, including semester abroad scholarships, summer scholarships, quarter scholarships, and single block scholarships.
How much they give will depend on the scholarship you go after, but it can range anywhere from $500 to $2,500. They also have another thing worth mentioning with CIEE. For every friend you refer to CIEE who goes on a CIEE trip successfully, you will receive $200.
Now, the requirements to apply will differ from one scholarship to the next, so we can’t list the exact requirements. The common ones you can find here include the CIEE Global Navigator and the CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange. We will make a note here, however, that when applying for these scholarships, you typically want to apply for between 10 and 30+ different ones, since the competition can be fierce.
To see the study abroad scholarships and grants from CIEE, you can take a look at them here.
How to Study Abroad in the U.S. and English-Speaking Countries
One of the things that we like about this course is that it covers how to get scholarships to study abroad, either for an undergraduate degree or a graduate degree. You can find the course on Udemy, and it’s only 1 hour and 39 minutes, so it won’t take too much time to learn the material, but you will be better suited to finding funding for your goal of studying abroad after.
Some of the things you’ll learn in this course include what it’s like to study in the U.S., how to create your student profile, how to research schools, how to apply for admission, and how to fund your studies.
You’ll learn what makes the cultural U.S. learning environment different from other countries so that you will know what to expect when you get there.
One of the things that we like about taking this course is how it will help you to increase your chances of success. When you go to apply for scholarships, the competition can be fierce, which means you want to follow all the best practices to increase your chances.
This course has everything you need to know about getting scholarships to study abroad.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this highlights some scholarships to go after. If you’re curious why you’d want to study abroad, we also wrote about the benefits of studying abroad. Many universities will also provide you with grants or study abroad scholarships unique to your university. You should check your local financial aid office to look for university-wide scholarships. Another option is to look for departmental or school-specific scholarships because they tend to be less competitive. Your local Rotary Club is a great example of an organization that might have one.
Finally, apply for multiple scholarships because if one doesn’t go through, you still have others that could go through.