Helping Students Study Abroad - More Scholarships Please

Gary Rhodes
Associate Dean, International Education & Senior International Officer,
College of Extended & International Education
Director, Center for Global Education
California State University at Dominguez Hills

It was great to see many of you at the recent NAFSA: Association of International Educators Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. A focus of many of the study abroad sessions included a focus on both increasing total participation numbers and getting students from diverse backgrounds to study abroad.

Funding the Study Abroad Experience

One of the regular items for discussion is how to enable more students to be able to fund their study abroad experience. Although cost may not be the most important challenge to participation (with community college study abroad efforts, the biggest challenge is a lack of available programs – you need program options before the question of cost even comes up), it is still a critical element.

There is no question that having additional financial resources would help many students who don’t consider studying abroad – take advantage of opportunities. Often, faculty and staff don’t push study abroad to students with limited financial means, as they don’t think those students can afford to go. This may be a result of limited financial means to support the costs of study abroad, without having to take out extra loans, or needing to work to gain extra funds beyond the direct costs of education. Most work-abroad or paid internship opportunities come with a cost to participate that often is higher than any money that will be earned.

When Institutional Aid Covers All Costs

The best-case scenario is that the institution has designed funding for study abroad in a way that “if you can afford to be on campus, you can afford to study abroad, without any additional loans or debt”.

An increasing number of institutions have worked closely with their financial aid offices to ensure that federal, state, and institutional aid can support study abroad costs. Many have found additional funds to support the additional costs of study abroad (international travel, excursions, etc.). At some private colleges and universities, in particular, study abroad can even cost less than the cost of study on campus and all costs related to study abroad can be covered.

However, many campuses are not able to provide funding to cover all costs of study abroad. In other cases, there may be some programs where costs can be covered and others where financial aid may not be available. The largest growth in study abroad is in short-term programs. Many of these take place during the summer. Often, financial aid is not available during the summer. As a result, many students who could most benefit from study abroad can’t afford the costs of studying abroad as well as the missed salary from working at that time.

The Need for Additional Scholarship Funds for Study Abroad

During the NAFSA Conference in Boston, it was again really comforting to be with others who understand the importance of study abroad and international learning and understanding. Meeting and networking and spending time with people in the field is always refreshing and revitalizes my focus in the field. There is consistent sharing of best practices and methods for improving programs and increasing opportunities for students.

As we approach summer 2015, I think this is a great time to think about additional ways to find funds to help a greater number and variety of students to study abroad. I think most of you are aware of the regular funding sources from federal and state resources. You probably also know of other funding sources like the Gilman and Fulbright Scholarships as well as many others that students can apply for.

A recent addition to the places to find funding is the “Fund for Education Abroad” (FEA). “FEA is committed to increasing the opportunities for dedicated American students to participate in high-quality, rigorous education abroad programs by reducing financial restrictions through the provision of grants and scholarships… FEA was founded in 2008. In 2009, a board was established to provide advice on the needs of students in education abroad and how to best offer them more opportunities. FEA received its 501(c)3 determination in March of 2010. The board and staff are proud to have awarded sixteen FEA scholarships for the 2013-2014 academic year.”

Stories of Students Funded for Future Study Abroad

Feedback from Jennifer Calvert, Executive Director of FEA, when I discussed this article with her, was to focus on the stories of students for whom study abroad can and will make an important impact and how scholarship funding was critical to enable them to study abroad in the future. Following Jennifer’s suggestions, I’ve included a sample of students who have received an FEA scholarship for 2015/16. After you look at their background and ideas about how study abroad will make a positive impact for them, take a moment to think (even dream) about how study abroad will change their lives:

Raymond Cobb, a student at Mt. San Antonio College:

I represent the returning student, the homeless student, and the black student that despite all odds, pulled through to be something great. I grew up and attended school in Compton, California, a city notoriously known for its gang violence. I lived in foster care all my life, but my foster mother kept and raised me as her own. In 2009, my mother passed away, and I lost my home. I had to couch hop between my friends and family in order to keep from living on the streets. Between 2011 and 2013 I was finally able to acquire my own place, but after being laid-off and losing my apartment at the beginning of 2014, I was back to couch hopping. Being 28 years old and feeling like I had failed, I decided to return to school to obtain my A.A. degree with the hope of transferring to a University.

I have recently changed my major from Music to English, with goals of becoming a teacher. I want to study abroad because I believe it will be a highly rewarding experience, giving me a better cultural background, providing me with an experience to learn in another country so that I can share my experiences with other students. (https://www.fundforeducationabroad.org/featured/raymond-cobb)

Ashley Knight-Williams, a student at Howard University:

I was born in Queens, New York and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina before coming to Howard University in Washington, D.C. I am an Administration of Justice major, Psychology minor. As a criminal justice major I hope to work in the Federal Bureau of Investigation focusing on child abduction, human trafficking, and domestic violence. Being a first generation college student and a part of the LBGT community, I have faced numerous hardships which have only made me stronger in the end. I have the pleasure of being my family’s first generation study abroad student. Being a person who since a young age has always craved adventure, I’ve honed in on my outgoing and vibrant personality. I know there will be an opportunity to showcase my innovativeness in Southeast Asia.

This summer I will have the amazing opportunity to spend six weeks studying the cultural foundations of Thai society and Public Health with The Education Abroad Network. I will be traveling to Chiang Mai, Thailand and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This program will help me gain a deeper understanding of the traditions and cultural of Southeast Asia, while examining the challenges and successes in topics such as women’s rights, gender based violence, and youth sexuality. In Thailand there is no jury system therefore I hope to learn and explore how this has impacted or improved the community and incorporate it in my senior thesis. Being able to fully immerse myself in the Southeast Asian culture is a dream that I have always hoped to accomplish, and now my dream is finally coming to reality in the summer of 2015. (https://www.fundforeducationabroad.org/featured/ashley-knight-williams)

Nigel Dowling, a student at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee:

I’ve been given the opportunity to study abroad. I am part of a number of underrepresented groups and I’m very happy to have been given the chance to participate. I am half African American and half Korean American and I think it’s great that I can help represent this very underrepresented demographic. Some other demographics I represent are first –generation college students, adoptees, and students with disabilities. I’m on the Autism Spectrum which has given me a number of obstacles I’ve needed to overcome such as how to read or interpret others accurately but, I’ve managed to overcome and compensate for many of these challenges with years of hard work and effort. I will be studying abroad in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan with the School of Russian and Asian Studies (SRAS). I’ll be participating in their 10 week Summer Russian as a Second Language program. (RSL) I decided to choose this program because it was recommended to me by my program director at my university who felt that it might be more suitable for me learning Russian considering the uncertain political and economic situation in Russia itself. However, Bishkek is a Russian speaking city where I hope to still gain the language immersion experience.

I’m looking forward to taking classes at the London School of Bishkek and participating in SRAS’s cultural seminars which will help me understand Central Asian Culture in a more explanatory way. I’m planning on applying for my University’s Russian Translation and Interpretation Graduate School Program which requires me to pass a proficiency exam to gain admission. I feel that participating in SRAS’s study abroad program will help give me the experience I need to perform well on this exam. I hope to become a Russian Interpreter or Translator which requires that one has a near native level of language proficiency. I’m very enthusiastic that I’ll be able to interact with locals in Bishkek and see what this is like first-hand!

I know that I’m the perfect candidate for this scholarship because I’m a very ambitious scholar who has a well-thought out plan and goals and I know that this experience will be invaluable in helping to propel me towards my career objectives. I have tremendous gratitude for having been given this opportunity and I plan to make the absolute most of the experience! (https://www.fundforeducationabroad.org/featured/nigel-dowling)

Derrick Harshberger, A student at University of California at Berkeley:

I come from quite a different background and have thus dealt with many hardships. I moved over 20 times before I was 18, and at many times I was homeless or living out of someone’s basement. I am no longer close to most of my family for many reasons – except for my father, who is the strongest man I know. This background, as well as being a queer man, has given me a strong sense of perseverance and deep empathy for those less fortunate. My ultimate goal is to help those less fortunate and take care of my father.

I am traveling to Denmark for a few reasons. First, I want to see how the Danish work with respect to their marginalized and disadvantaged cultures for they excel above most countries in this. Secondly, I will be continuing my research and activism dealing with sexual violence in the gay male community which is an undiscussed and under-researched, yet very prevalent and pervasive issue in my community. However, my final reason to travel to a foreign land is to get uncomfortable and grow. Coming from where I do, I’ve learned that one of the most valuable things we can do for personal development is to get into situations that we fear and learn to not fear them. I have a strong sense of community where I live, and it’s time to jump into another one. (https://www.fundforeducationabroad.org/featured/derrick-harshberger)

Thanks to Jennifer Calvert for providing these really impressive stories and finding ways to expand scholarships for students to study abroad.

Working Together to Find Additional Funding to Support Students

I know that each of you have stories about the many students you have served and helped to study abroad with similar challenging backgrounds and high ideals of ways that study abroad can change their lives. I also know that many of you have found funds at your institution and directed students to other places to find funding to study abroad.

However, I also know the stories of the students we would have liked to send on study abroad, but in the end could not afford the costs of study abroad. In my discussions with Jennifer Calvert who, although excited about the students who received FEA scholarships, would have liked to have more funds to support many other students who applied for which there weren’t enough funds to support. While we are glad that the Gilman Scholarships can help a growing number of students, there are also an increasing number of students who apply for funding for whom there is not enough funding to support.

As a community, I think there is more we can do to get additional funds to help change student lives. As I’ve discussed in previous articles, along with the individual stories about the impact of study abroad, to impact donors, collecting data on how study abroad impacts students, from the impact on international learning to retention and success to career, it is important that we work together to put pressure on government agencies, private foundations, corporate and individual donors to increase the funds available through the government, organizations like FEA, and our individual institutions to continue to increase opportunities for students.

Some of the places to find study abroad scholarship listings include:

The Center for Global Education’s collaboration with Terra Dotta has included the development of new resources and collaborating on research efforts that support study abroad and international student support.

To support institutions and their students trying to obtain additional funding to study abroad, we will be collaborating this summer (summer 2015) to develop a new resource that will provide faculty, staff, and students with a comprehensive collection of funding support for study abroad. This will include sources of funding for students, ideas for fund-raising, samples of best practices at institutions across the country, as well as a guide for both effective proposal writing for institutions and individual students. We will disseminate the content as a resource that will be available online as well as one that can be shared through the Terra Dotta Community Library.

We will begin with the resource we developed for our AllAbroad.us, Diversity Outreach for Study Abroad resource and build from there.

This is also a critical issue at California State University at Dominguez Hills, where I am now working and where I moved the Center. As with our other projects, we will make sure to credit the institutions who send information and highlight them in the new resources.

I know that I’m looking forward to hearing the stories of Raymond, Ashley, Nigel, and Derrick after they return from study abroad. I look forward to collaborating with you and others in the study abroad field to make these opportunities available for a growing number of students who can use additional financial support to enable them to study abroad.

Thank you for your support and the support from Terra Dotta! I look forward to hearing from you about:

Additional funding sources that we haven’t yet identified on the AllAbroad.us website
Information you provide to students about how to plan and apply effectively for funding outside of their home campus.
Information you provide to faculty and staff interested in developing new study abroad opportunities on how to obtain funding from federal, state, or local government as well as private foundations and individual donors.