Financial Aid
CELL has developed its programs to be as affordable as possible to all students. Students may find that the costs of participating in a CELL semester program are less than the semester costs of attending a college or university back home.
Your Rights
According to the Higher Education Act of 1992, college students can receive financial aid for study abroad if they are enrolled in a program that is approved by their home institution. Furthermore, students are eligible to receive government funding even though the study-abroad program may not be “required” as part of the student’s degree. Federal law also states that financial aid can cover all “reasonable” costs associated with a study abroad program, including tuition and fees for the program, transportation costs, living expenses, passport and visa fees, and health insurance.
Looking for Financial Aid
Your College Campus
The first place to check is your home college/university study abroad office and/or college financial aid office. Your federal/state loans and scholarships will often apply to your study abroad program with CELL. Your study abroad and financial aid offices, as well as your academic adviser, may also be aware of additional loans and grant opportunities that may be available to you, including your own school’s institutional aid.
Your Family
You should also consider your personal resources, extended family, and businesses where family members work and organizations that your family members belong to as they may have educational loan or scholarship programs.
Scholarships
Below are additional sources of aid to fund your study abroad program.
- Gilman International Scholarship Program – provides grants up to $5,000 for those who receive U.S. Pell Grants.
- Sara’s Wish Foundation – provides travel scholarships for young women
- Rotary International – offers a variety of scholarships and has local clubs throughout the U.S.
- The Amy Adine Schulman Scholarship Fund – requires a commitment to educate others through lecture, presentation, program or other activities upon returning to your home or school community. You must be willing and able to do this so others will have the opportunity to learn about and to be inspired to do similar work.
- Boren Scholarship – provides up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin American, and the Middle East. Applicants should identify how their study abroad program, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security, broadly defined.
- SYTA Youth Foundation – provides funds to youth who, for various reasons, are unable to afford the cost of their group’s travel.
- www.goabroad.com/scholarships-abroad
- www.iefa.org/
- www.collegeboard.org
- www.fastweb.com
- www.educatorlabs.org
- Goodcall.com
Loans
There are also alternative student loans through private or quasi government agencies. These loans areusually less favorable (they usually require repayment to begin immediately rather than after you graduate) but they are dependable sources of funding for studying abroad. See: http://www.salliemae.com/
Again, to learn more about your eligibility for financial aid, we recommend that you first talk directly with your college’s financial aid office regarding what financial aid it allows for study abroad programs.