Travel Pays

Kristal Bivona reports on the challenges revealed by the Nation’s Report Card

Often the biggest hurdle to studying abroad is financial, so Language Magazine is compiling a guide to Study Abroad Scholarships. Here is the first installment of our guide which will be updated at www.languagemagazine.com/study-abroad.

Undergraduate Students

CIEE Global Access Initiative Scholarship
The CIEE Global Access Initiative (GAIN), was created to help students overcome major barriers to study abroad, namely, costs and curriculum requirements. GAIN aids in the diversification of study abroad by providing overseas opportunities for students who are economically challenged, and from diverse backgrounds, or underrepresented fields of study. Scholarships are given to students who will be attending a CIEE Study Abroad program. CIEE offers other scholarships to attend their programs, including other need-based scholarships and major-specific scholarships.

INTO Study in China Scholarship
Diversity Abroad, in cooperation with INTO University Partnerships, offers three $1000 scholarships for summer study. Scholarships are only available for students participating in an INTO summer study abroad program in China. Applicants must send in a video essay as part of the application.

Fulbright-mtv-U Award
These awards are available to pursue projects around an aspect of international contemporary or popular music as a cultural force for expression. Preference will be given to creative projects that are conveyed in a dynamic fashion and are accompanied by a feasible plan. In addition to presenting unique projects on music as a global force for mutual cultural understanding, applicants must submit a Documentation and Outreach Plan describing how they intend to share their activities with their peers during their Fulbright year abroad through mtv-U print, broadcast and/or online mediums. Applicants are encouraged to consider all aspects of the power of music in developing their proposals. Preference is given to graduating college seniors who meet all host country requirements, including those relating to language, affiliation and program start dates.

CEA Scholarships
Cultural Experiences Abroad offers a variety of scholarships to help students finance their studies abroad, including Merit Scholarships, Diversity Scholarships, Summer and Short-term Scholarships, Need-Based Scholarships and some country-specific funding. Scholarships are good for CEA programs only.

Freeman Awards for Study in Asia
Freeman-ASIA (Freeman Awards for Study in Asia) is designed to support American undergraduates with demonstrated financial need who are planning to study overseas in East or Southeast Asia. The program’s goal is to increase the number of Americans with first-hand exposure to and understanding of Asia and its peoples and cultures. Award recipients are required to share their experiences with their home campuses or communities to encourage study abroad by others and fulfill the program’s goal of increasing understanding of Asia in the United States. Awards are available for Fall or Spring semesters, an academic year, or summer study.

Bridging Scholarships for Study Abroad in Japan
The Bridging Project offers scholarships to American undergraduate students participating in study-abroad programs in Japan. Funding from private foundations and major U.S. corporations, through donations to the nonprofit US-Japan Bridging Foundation, has made it possible to award 20 scholarships to assist students with the travel and living expenses they will incur while studying abroad in Japan for a semester or an academic year. Undergraduate students majoring in any field of study are eligible to apply for these scholarships. Japanese language study is not a prerequisite.

Boren Scholarships
Boren Scholarships provide American undergraduate students with the resources and encouragement they need to acquire skills and experiences in areas of the world critical to the future security of our nation, in exchange for their commitment to seek work in the federal government. The program focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. It draws on a broad definition of national security, recognizing that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including: sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness. All applicants must demonstrate how their study programs and future goals are connected to this broad understanding of national security.

DAAD Undergraduate Scholarship
Highly qualified undergraduate students are invited to apply for scholarships funding study, senior thesis research and/or internships in Germany. The goal of this program is to support study abroad in Germany and at German universities. Preference will be given to students whose projects or programs are based at and organized by a German university. Scholarships are available either as part of an organized study abroad program or as part of an individual, student-designed study abroad semester or year.

DAAD Study Scholarships
Highly qualified graduating seniors (fourth or final year of undergraduate students in Canada) or those who have received an undergraduate degree of all disciplines may apply for the DAAD Study Scholarship for a year of independent study or a full master’s degree program at a German university. DAAD also offers a Study Scholarship for Fine Arts, Architecture, Music, and Dance. These scholarships aim to provide highly qualified students in the fields of fine art, design, film, music, choreography and architecture with an opportunity to complete a program of additional studies, with or without earning a formal degree, at a German institute of higher education.

Study and Internship Program (SIP) in Germany
A joint program of German Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS7) and DAAD, this program offers students a full academic semester of study abroad at one of the UAS7 universities in Germany followed by a one-semester professional internship experience in a company or research institute in Germany. Scholarships are granted for one semester (six months). Paid internships are available, with variable compensation rates depending on the industry, to be paid by the company or research institute.

Graduate and Undergraduate

CAPA International Education Scholarships
CAPA offers a variety of scholarships for study abroad, including Need-Based Scholarships to help cover the cost of a semester abroad, Merit Scholarships, Affiliate Scholarships for students of CAPA-affiliated institutions, Access Scholarships for students who are from underrepresented groups in the study abroad community, and an Accommodations Fund for students with disabilities.

German Studies Research Grant
This specialized DAAD program offers up to 10 German Studies Research Grants to highly qualified undergraduate and graduate students who are nominated by their department/program chairs. The grant may be used for short-term research (one to two months) in either Germany or North America.

Cultural Ambassadors:
North American Language and Culture Assistants
The Spanish Ministry of Education sponsors this opportunity for college students and graduates from the U.S. and Canada. The Assistants get a grant in Spain to provide support to the English or French teachers in language and culture classes and also have the opportunity to learn about the Spanish language and culture and use their experience upon their return to the United States or Canada, thus developing cultural understanding between the citizens of Spain and the United States of America and Canada. The Assistants spend an academic year in Spain. Positions are available all over the country.

Ibn Battuta Merit Scholarships for Peace & Diplomacy
The Ibn Battuta Merit Scholarships aim to reward students for excellence and dedication to the study of the Arabic language as well as promote the study of Arabic as a foreign language. Prospective students may apply to either one of the semester programs (fall, spring) or else to the winter and summer programs at the Qatar Center in Rabat, Morocco. Each year, the Center offers five scholarships for both tuition and housing, and ten for tuition only.

Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad
This program provides grants to support overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. Projects may include short-term seminars, curriculum development, group research or study, or advanced intensive language programs. A group research or study project is designed to permit a group of faculty from institutions of higher education and graduate and undergraduate students to undertake research or study in a foreign country or region for a period of three to twelve months. The institution should make arrangements for any clearances or affiliations necessary for conducting research in the host country. This competition takes place every four years.

Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program
The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships program provides allocations of academic year and summer fellowships to institutions of higher education or consortia of institutions of higher education to assist meritorious undergraduate students and graduate students undergoing training in modern foreign languages and related area or international studies. Eligible students apply for fellowships directly to an institution that has received an allocation of fellowships from the U.S. Department of Education. Students should see if their college participates in the FLAS program.

Graduate Students

Fulbright U.S. Students Program
The Fulbright U.S. Students program is ideal for recent college graduates, or graduate students. There are two types of grants available to U.S. students: the English Teaching Assistantship (ETA), or the research grant. The ETA places grantees in a school or teacher training center abroad where they will assist an English professor for 20 hours per week and pursue a project that fosters mutual cultural understanding. The research grants are intended for graduate students who need to conduct research abroad for theses or dissertations. Grant lengths, support packages, and dates vary by country.

Boren Fellowships
National Security Education Program Boren Fellowships fund U.S. graduate students to add an important international component to their graduate education through specialization in area study, language study, or increased language proficiency. Boren Fellowships support study and research in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded. Fellows’ projects, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security, broadly defined. NSEP draws on a broad definition of national security, recognizing that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness.

DAAD Research Grants
Research grants are awarded primarily to highly qualified PhD candidates who are early in their academic/professional careers or to individuals wishing to earn a doctoral degree in Germany. Funding may also be granted to recent PhDs who would like to conduct research. This grant is open to applicants in all fields.

Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad
The Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship Program provides opportunities to doctoral candidates to engage in full-time dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. The program is designed to contribute to the development and improvement of the study of modern foreign languages and area studies in the United States.

Chateaubriand Fellowship Program
The Chateaubriand Fellowship is a grant offered by the Embassy of France in the United States. Every year, it allows doctorate students enrolled in American universities to conduct research in France for up to 10 months. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fellowship program and the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) fellowship program have different modes of selection but they are both highly prestigious and merit-based.

Chateaubriand recipients receive a stipend, a round trip ticket to France and health insurance.

Intensive Language Courses in Germany
DAAD offers grants to graduate students at North American universities to attend eight-week intensive language courses at leading institutes in Germany. Scholarships are awarded to students currently enrolled full-time in a graduate program in all fields of study except German Studies, German Language and Literature or German Translation and Interpretation.

To make sure that your favorites scholarship/grant is included in our database, email details to editor@languagemagazine.com.