Home / News & Events / News / Scholarships make studying abroad more accessible for students
By Kate O’Neill
In an effort to make opportunities to study abroad more accessible for all students, undergraduates participating in UC Santa Cruz Faculty-Led Study Abroad programs received a cumulative $50,000 in scholarship funds made possible by generous friends and supporters of the campus.
25 UCSC students will receive $2,000 scholarship awards to help fund their participation in one of the five programs taking place during summer 2019. Approximately 40% of Faculty-Led Study Abroad UCSC program participants will receive financial support from this scholarship to study abroad.
UCSC students enrolled in summer programs were automatically considered for the scholarship. In collaboration with Financial Aid, the Study Abroad team identified students with the highest need to receive one of the $2,000 scholarships.
“This was due, in part, to address the gap in financial aid that students receive in the summer, and the recognition of the opportunity these programs provide to students to engage with UCSC faculty and complete UCSC courses in an international setting,” said Alice Michel, director of Study Abroad.
In addition to the $50,000 scholarship funds, $1,639 was raised for Study Abroad scholarships during Giving Day. The amount raised during this campaign will also go to UCSC students participating in summer 2019 programs.
Banana slugs planning to study abroad in the 2019-20 academic year also have the opportunity to receive financial support through a variety of national scholarship organizations, including the Gilman International Scholarship. A record number of UCSC students, 36, applied for Gilman Scholarship for the summer/fall application cycle due to the efforts of UCSC Study Abroad to increase awareness and preparation through additional information sessions, application workshops, and essay advising. Recipients will be notified of their selection by the Gilman Scholarship Program in April or May of 2019.
Study Abroad is eager to make international education accessible to all UCSC students by continuing to identify and provide more opportunities for financial support.