Easy ways to fund study abroad programs

NAU’s Center of International Education offers over 13 different scholarships. However, every year thousands of dollars in scholarship money goes unused. Students typically apply for the same three: Gilman scholarship, GO scholarship and No Excuses scholarship.

“I only applied for the GO scholarship and the No Excuses scholarship but I did actually receive financial aid from FAFSA,” said NAU student Dakota Smith. “I’ve never been abroad before so I’m pretty excited to have this opportunity. I’ll be going to Tilburg, Netherlands at the end of August.” Smith is a junior at NAU and she will be studying Psychology and Criminal Justice while abroad.

Although she applied for scholarships, Smith was not awarded any grant money for her program. Smith holds a full time job and has been saving since December 2013 for this program.

The most common stereotype for students who study abroad are said to be over privileged kids who come from families with a plethora of money. It’s time to break the stereotype.

For those not aware of ways to fund their study abroad programs should stop by the Center Of International Education on campus and speak with an advisor in the department.

Danielle Linde, scholarship advisor in the Center for International Education explains a few ways to help fund their study abroad programs. “There are so many scholarships that go to waste because students don’t know about them. So many students apply for the same scholarships and neglect the rest,” said Linde.

“I applied for the Gilman, GO, and No Excuses scholarships but unfortunately I didn’t receive funding from any of them,” said NAU student Melisa Beukema. Melisa will be studying abroad in the fall to Siena, Italy and will be studying photography, painting and will also be learning to speak Italian. “I have however received funding from just going to gofundme.com. I’ve already received almost $2000 in donations from my family members.” This will be Beukema’s first time abroad and she plans to travel to neighboring countries such as Spain, France and Germany.

The common scholarships for study abroad programs tend to go quickly. The funding for these programs is limited and is to help pay for tuition, housing, books and even meals in some cases.

The Gilman scholarship, one of the most competitive, is said to award “over 2,700 scholarships of up to $5,000 this academic year for U.S. citizen undergraduates to study or intern abroad.” These numbers come from the Gilman scholarship program itself. More numbers can be viewed on their website at http://www.iie.org/programs/gilman-scholarship-program/about-the-program.

For more information about ways to fund study abroad programs, students can visit the Center of International Education and also online at nau.edu/cie.

(I’m planning to add more information as I collect more this week.)