Getting Started and Pro-tips

• The best source of advice about study abroad is the Office of International Study.  Start here!  Don’t miss their helpful information about “Affording Study Abroad.”

• Plan ahead!  Many deadlines fall in the autumn of the year before the year of travel (that is, a full year out).  Start thinking about your application and references sooner as opposed to later.

• Check out the Deadlines section of the Career Education website.  You can even sort deadlines based on your interests—for example, select Fellowship, then Travel.

• Also explore the opportunities provided by the Ministry of Education for the country where you’d like to travel or (for international students) the country of your origin. For example, Australia, Canada, and Germany's DAAD offer searchable scholarship databases.

• Did you know that study abroad can be a good investment in your career?  Learn more!

International Students

In addition to checking out the funding information available via Wellesley and the OIS website, international students should also explore the websites of the Ministry for Education of their home country and of the country to which they’re hoping to go, to see what might be available. The US government is far from the only one to offer opportunities for its citizens to study abroad and for international students to study in the US. Scholarships for Development  is a great site for students from developing countries and/or anyone interested in studying development.

Fellowships and Scholarships for Study Abroad

Note that these opportunities are listed chronologically by deadline.

Brenda A. Brown Passport Scholarship United States citizens in high school or college who are applying for their first-ever US passport are invited to apply for this scholarship through Expanding Boundaries International. The Scholarship will address the costs of the passport. Applicants must be ready to study, intern, or volunteer abroad in the near future and to apply for a passport within two months of receiving the award. 

Deadline: typically in late October, but applications are accepting on a rolling basis, beginning in February of each year

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Freeman-ASIA offers US citizens or permanent residents studying at the undergraduate level who demonstrate financial need scholarships for study abroad in East or Southeast Asia.

Deadline: typically in October for study abroad the following calendar year.

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Critical Language Scholarships offer US students (including graduating seniors) full funding for intensive summer language study abroad programs. The languages offered are Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.

Deadline: typically in mid-November.

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Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals provides opportunities for US citizens between the ages of 18 and 24 to study and intern in Germany in a yearlong cultural immersion program.

Deadline: typically December 1 for the following academic year.

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Fund for Education Abroad offers scholarships for study abroad for US citizens, permanent residents, and DACA students. Applicants from groups underrepresented in study abroad and those destined for non-traditional locations are given preference, in an effort to make the demographics of US undergraduates studying abroad reflect the rich diversity of the US population.

Deadline: for study abroad the following summer or academic year, typically early January.

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Boren Scholarships support the study abroad of less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to US interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East. Eligible are US citizens matriculated at US colleges.

Deadline (for Wellesley’s nomination for the Boren): typically early January.

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Wellesley's Mayling Soong Scholarship for Summer Study in Asia provides limited funding to support summer language study in East and South Asia to Wellesley College students who have had a least one year of study of the target language and who maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher. (US citizenship not required!)

Deadline: typically in early February.

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The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program supports up to a year of study abroad in any discipline. Eligible are US citizens and nationals who are Pell Grant recipients who will finish their degrees after the proposed study abroad.

Deadlines: typically early October or March to apply for the following summer, fall, or academic year abroad.

Note: You apply directly for the Gilman, but need Wellesley to confirm that your study abroad program is approved and also your financial need—Wellesley's glad to do this, but please plan ahead to make sure all goes smoothly.

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Also explore:

• There are many more opportunities that are specific to certain languages, programs, or area studies– explore them via the Scholarships spreadsheet on the OIS website.

• Diversity Abroad offers information about study abroad scholarship opportunities for low-income, first generation, and under-represented students (most resources collected on this website apply to US citizens).

• The Institute of International Education offers excellent and extensive resources to find grants and scholarships for US students.

• American Councils: https://www.studyabroad.americancouncils.org/financial-aid

Postgraduate Fellowships

After you graduate from Wellesley, there are a variety of ways to continue to build on your linguistic and cultural fluency. In addition to considering work or graduate study, did you know that there are a variety of postgraduate fellowships that might fund language study abroad, independent projects, and more?  Don’t wait to explore options! Spring of junior year is the perfect time to explore postgraduate fellowships, if you’re thinking of applying as a senior for funding for after graduation…you can check out our current resource for the class of 2024, which has great information no matter what your class year!