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International Experience Scholarship

The International Experience Scholarship is offered through the IUI Office of International Affairs

Need help funding your study abroad experience?  As an undergraduate or graduate student, you may be eligible to apply for the International Experience Scholarship. We have two award cycles per year, and preference is given to students who have not previously studied abroad. 

For more funding options, check out our full list of scholarships and financial aid.

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Am I eligible?

• I am applying for a Summer, Fall Semester, or Academic-Year Program (for February deadline). Graduate students may apply for Summer Programs only.
• I am a full-time or part-time undergraduate or graduate student.
• My program is approved and credit bearing (including approved independent study and direct enrollment overseas).
• The credits will be counting toward my degree (requirements or electives).
• I am in good standing with the university and have a 2.75 GPA.

Scholarship Information

• Selection Criteria

  Recipients will be selected on the basis of need, merit, and motivation. Need may be documented by a filed FAFSA form and financial preparation is also considered. Merit is indicated by the applicant’s recommendation form and overall quality of the application. Motivation may be demonstrated through prior coursework, relevant volunteer or other extracurricular experiences, language preparation (where applicable), fit with the program, and the applicant’s essay.

  Preference will be given to students who have never had an opportunity to study overseas. In addition, programs administered by IUI and Indiana University as well as programs with a service learning or community involvement component will receive priority consideration. Student participating in longer programs will also be given preference. Students who have not received the International Experience Scholarship in the past will be prioritized.

  Awards are contingent upon acceptance into and participation in the proposed study abroad program. Students who withdraw or are dismissed from the program may need to return all or part of the award to the University

• Post-Program Expectations

  Award recipients will write a 2-3 page reflective paper about their international experience upon completion of their program, to be submitted to the Study Abroad Office. In addition, award recipients must participate in one volunteer function coordinated by the IUI Study Abroad Office to promote the internationalization of IUI. The Study Abroad Office will contact you about opportunities to fulfill this requirement. You must be willing to complete these requirements if you apply for this award. If you fail to complete these requirements you may be required to return all or part of your award.

• Scholarship Eligibility Details

  • Any IUI, IUPUC, or IUFW undergraduate or graduate* student, full or part-time, who will be participating in an approved, credit bearing, study abroad program (including approved independent study and direct enrollment overseas), is eligible. (*Graduate students are only eligible if their experience will take place during the summer term.) Non-degree seeking students who are completing a certificate may also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
    
    
  • Students need to have identified a program or experience in which they plan to participate, but do not need to be accepted into the program at the time of applying for this scholarship.
  • All applicants must be in good standing and should have a minimum IU cumulative GPA of 2.75.
  • The credits earned on the program must count towards the student’s degree (requirements or electives).
  • Students participating on a program that is not administered by an Indiana University campus need to complete a Transfer Credit Agreement Table through the IUI Study Abroad Office in order to be eligible to apply to this scholarship. These students should contact Emily Charlton (echarlto@iu.edu) for more information on this process.

  Note: You do not need to be accepted into your study abroad program before applying to the scholarship.

How do I apply?

If you meet the eligibility requirements above, follow the simple steps below to apply!

• Complete the International Experience Scholarship Application. Application components are listed here (note: you do NOT need to be accepted to your study abroad program to apply for the scholarship). Applications for Summer, Fall, or Academic Year programs are due in February.

• To access the International Experience Scholarship Application:
  • Go to One.IU.edu.
  • Search for Scholarships.
  • Click on the “Scholarships (Blackbaud Award Management)” task and log in with your IU username and password.
  • Complete and submit the General Application (if you haven’t already).
  • Once you have submitted the General Application, click the Opportunities tab, then click Ours.
  • Type “International Experience” in the search bar.
  • The scholarship name will appear as “IUI-International Experience Scholarship (Study Abroad)”.
  • Click the Apply button to open the application.
  • Complete and submit the International Experience Scholarship application.

• Ask your professor to complete your recommendation form. The person completing the recommendation should be a current or past college instructor with whom you have taken a class. They will only receive the link to complete the form once you have completely submitted your application, so don't wait until the last minute!

For independent study/research projects ONLY: the professor supervising your independent study must complete a project statement form describing the activities and assignments of the independent study course. They will only receive a link to complete the from once you have completely submitted your application.

Application Components

• Application Questions

  The IUI International Experience Scholarship is available to students at the IUI, IUPUC, and IUFW campuses. If you are not from one of these campuses, please check with the study abroad office on your campus to explore scholarships which would be available to you.

  1. Have you received the International Experience Scholarship before? 
  2. Will you be receiving academic credit for participating in your program?
  3. In what program do you intend to participate? (If an IU program, list the program name as listed in iAbroad.)
  4. Who is the sponsor of the program?
  5. Does your program involve service learning or an internship?
  6. What is the primary country in which your program will take place? 
  7. How long is the program? 
  8. What term is your program? 
  9. Have you traveled internationally or lived abroad for educational or professional reasons? 
  10. Please describe your prior international travel for educational or professional reasons.

• Essay Questions

  1. Describe why you chose this particular study abroad program.
  2. Describe how this program fits into your personal, professional, and/or academic goals.
  3. Describe the courses you plan to take abroad: (number of credit hours, course numbers, and course titles, if possible).
  4. List the degree requirements which will be completed through participation in this program.
  5. In what ways have you prepared for this program? (language preparation, coursework taken, relevant extracurricular or volunteer activities)
  6. Describe all of your previous international experience (Include the United States if you are a current international student).

• Recommendation Form

  This application requires a recommendation from a current or past college instructor (with whom you took a class). Upon submission of your entire scholarship application, your recommender will receive an email from the application system with instructions to upload your recommendation letter.

   

• Program Budget

  You are required to submit a budget for the study abroad program in which you intend to participate.

  1. What is the program fee?
  2. What is included in the program fee?
  3. Please only enter the costs not included in the program fee:             
  • Airfare
  • Accommodations
  • Food/Meals
  • Local transportation
  • Insurance
  • Books/supplies
  • Travel medicine/Vaccinations
  • Passport
  • Visa
  • Essential Living Costs

  4. Are there any other costs included in the program budget?

  5. Total Program Cost:

• Personal Financial Statement

  1. Would you be able to participate in this program without any scholarship funding? Please explain your financial need.
  2. Personal or family contributions towards the program.
  3. Please explain your efforts to save for the program.
  4. Will you be using any loans to pay for study abroad expenses?
  5. Please list other scholarship(s) for which you have applied or intend on applying to along with the amount(s).
  6. Are you pursuing any additional funding opportunities you have not already mentioned?

• Independent Research/Internship (if applicable)

  If you are not participating on a prearranged study abroad program but are instead going abroad to do an independent study or research project of your own design which will yield the primary credit for your experience abroad, we require a statement from the IUI faculty member overseeing your international coursework to describe your project and their role in supervising your work.

  This does not include research conducted as part of a prearranged study abroad program.

• Graduating Student

  The IUI International Scholarship requires students to share their overseas experience with the campus community. This can be done in a variety of ways. Typically students return to campus and volunteer to give a class presentation or to assist with events to promote study abroad.

  
  If you are graduating at the end of the term in which you are studying abroad, you will need to provide a statement (approximately 250-300 words) of how you will share your experiences overseas with the campus. A couple of examples of what other students have done are: giving a presentation while abroad by video conference to a group of students interested in studying abroad and keeping a blog of their experiences to which IUI can link. Be creative!