Study Abroad Program External Scholarships

There are many external scholarship options for students who are interested in study abroad. These scholarships are competitive and have specific requirements restricting such factors as academic majors, countries of study, and financial need. Here are a few examples but there are many more out there, you just have to look. Plan to apply for scholarships early as there are many paperwork requirements for some.

You can find additional scholarships and information on the LTU Financial Aid page.

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
This program is offered through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and is administered by the Institute of International Education. All students who currently receive a Pell Grant are strongly encouraged to apply. Selected by competition, recipients are awarded up to $5000 to defray the costs associated with studying abroad.

Students who apply for and receive the Gilman Scholarship to study abroad are now eligible to receive an additional $3,000 Critical Need Language Supplement from the Gilman Program for a total possible award of up to $8,000. Critical Need Languages include: Arabic (all dialects), Chinese (all dialects), Turkic (Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgz, Turkish, Turkmen, Uzbek), Persian (Farsi, Dari, Kurdish, Pashto, Tajiki), Indic (Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Sinhala, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Sindhi), Korean, and Russian.

LewerMark "Make your Mark" Scholarship
The Lewer Agency offers an annual LewerMark "Make Your Mark" Scholarship essay contest for students at least 18 years of age. All study abroad students are challenged to submit a 500-word essay that answers the question: "How will an international education help me make a difference in the world?" Scholarships will be awarded to three winners in the amounts of $1,250, $1,000, and $750, respectively. The winner must be attending the sponsoring school after the award is granted in order to receive the scholarship proceeds for the next school term.

Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship
Multiple awards are offered annually by Rotary Clubs International. You must have completed at least two years of college to qualify; however, scholarship may be used for undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate, or non-degree study, and must be achieved in a country where Rotary has chapters of their organization. You must be proficient in the language of the destination country, and have a demonstrable interest in peace and understanding other cultures for world betterment. You must have an outstanding academic record, a history of community service, and be serious in your approach to life.

The amount of this award is $25,000, which is intended to cover expenses including tuition, room and board, books, fees, and transportation to the destination country. An additional amount can be used to cover a one-month intensive language course, if needed. There is no designated field of study required for this scholarship.

International Semester Scholarship
This scholarship is intended for a semester or the summer session, and is sponsored by the American Institute for Foreign Study. Prizes per semester are $1,000, and for the summer, $500. There are 40 awards given each semester, with 50 awarded in the summer. If you are an undergraduate student who is avidly interested and involved in multi-culture studies, and have at least a 3.0 GPA, with strong leadership abilities, this opportunity might be of interest to you.

Funds may be utilized for study at institutions with AIFS programs in Argentina, Australia, Austria, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, England, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Peru, Russia, South Africa, or Spain. 

Fulbright Programs
Some of the most respected programs in continued study abroad are those funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs – the Fulbright Programs. These differ from regular scholarships in that they support research conducted by those who have just received their doctorates – both our citizens to other countries and vice versa. Also, through the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, our young teachers may go to a myriad of countries in the world and teach English to secondary education students, and young teachers from those countries may come here to teach American students. 

SALT
As a free, nonprofit resource, SALT simplifies the complex world of student loans and finances for college students and alumni. They provide helpful tools, unbiased expertise, and information tailored to your life to make it easy for you to understand all of your options. Make a profile today and start searching for more scholarships.