Funding Your Study Abroad

Hello again,

Qasid orientation 
trip to Ajloon

I want to use this blog post to write about an important topic. I know most college aged people don't have the means to self fund their study abroad. Studying abroad can be very expensive but I will tell you some things that came in handy while I was trying to fund my three study abroads. This post is wholly aimed at US students because I dont know how other uni systems work. 

First, the most useful thing is that I study a critical language. Pretty much all of my scholarships are for people studying critical languages. If you're new to this, critical languages are basically languages that are in high demand and have little supply of speakers. They are languages that the government deems to be high need. Languages can make the list for different reasons. 

If you are lucky enough to be in the beginning of your language journey, you should consider studying a critical language. There are many critical languages from which you may choose. Hopefully you will find one you are genuinely interested in and passionate about too. I will list links below to scholarships that I am familiar with. Im sure there are more out there. Be careful to check the eligibility requirements of each scholarship first to ensure you are eligible.

These are not MSU specific: 

Gilman

https://gilmanapplication.iie.org/

--- Gilman offers more money for studying a critical language, however you are still be eligible even if the language you study is not considered critical. You just wont get the same amount of money. Gilman is need based.

CLS

http://www.clscholarship.org/

--- The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) is only offered for critical language study. I do not think this is need based though.

Boren

www.borenawards.org/

--- Only for certain languages, I don't think its need based. Boren has a service requirement. Boren also offers fellowships.

Flagship

https://thelanguageflagship.org/content/arabic

--- This is a very good program. This is limited to certain languages and certain universities. You have to attend a university that has this program. You have to apply and be accepted into the program. It is not a scholarship that you can just apply for a few months before your study abroad. However, it is a good program.

Some nice terrain

These scholarships are MSU Specific 

FLAS

African Studies Center: http://africa.isp.msu.edu
Asian Studies Center: http://asia.isp.msu.edu/
Center for Gender in  Global Context: http://gencen.isp.msu.edu/ 


College of Arts and Letters Scholarships (CAL majors only) 

http://excelnetwork.cal.msu.edu/scholarships/study-abroad-scholarships


Link with more MSU Arabic study abroad scholarships: 

http://linglang.msu.edu/degree-programs/arabicfinancial-resources-study-abroad/financial-resources-study-abroad/

I hope this starter info helps some other students feel less discouraged about attempting to study abroad. I know financing it is often the thing that keeps student from even considering going on a study abroad. Additionally, if you are a future MSU student you should look into doing an independent study abroad. Its still through MSU, but you do not go with a group and you do not have to pay the expensive program fees or the same MSU tuition rate.

I hope this helps.