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Scholarship Information

If you have some time on your hands over the holidays, you may find it instructive to check some of the websites listed for scholarship information. Most scholarships and fellowships are for the graduate level (though there are a few for undergraduates), but looking at what's available may give you some ideas on how to make yourself most marketable when the time comes. You should note that application deadlines on scholarships generally fall anywhere from December 1 to March 1, so it's time to begin selecting scholarships you may be interested in and compiling documents and materials necessary for the application process.

A few words of caution from NAFSA: Association of International Educators: Many scholarships for undergraduate study are available only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. However, there are free scholarship databases as well as private, corporate, nonprofit, and government scholarship funds that serve undergraduate international students.

Some scholarship databases charge fees to users, and other databases provide their services at no cost. In general, the same information is available from both types of database services, so it is not necessary to pay any fee. Ask in advance, and choose the database service that is free of charge. Be especially aware of dishonest scholarship offers: do not send money, bank account numbers, or credit card numbers to any organization that promises a scholarship in return. If you doubt the truthfulness of any scholarship source, consult with the admissions office or the international student office at the university to which you are applying.

The U.S. Department of Education and EduPASS offer tips and resources to protect students from dishonest organizations.

A few resources to start with:

• List prepared by the USG Board of Regents International Office
  http://www.usg.edu/oie/students/financial/finaid.phtml

• International Student Organization
  https://www.isoa.org/list_scholarships.aspx
  Has an extensive list, some being undergraduate. You would have to go to sponsors' pages from that site.

• AAUW Fellowships
  http://www.aauw.org/fga/fellowships_grants/international.cfm
  International Fellowships are awarded for full-time study or research to women who are not United States citizens or permanent residents. Both graduate and postgraduate study at accredited institutions are supported. (For support at the undergraduate level, visit www.isep.org .)

• Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund
  http://som.georgetown.edu/scholarship/mcnamara.html
  1. Must be a female national of a developing country enrolled in an accredited educational institution in the U.S.
  2. Must be interested in issues that relate to women and/or children and be planning on returning to her country within two years of the date on which the grant is made
  3. Must demonstrate financial need
  4. Must not be related to a World Bank staff member or spouse

• Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund
  http://www.oas.org/rowe/
  The Rowe Fund is a student loan fund (not a scholarship) sponsored by the Organization of American States. It is open to graduate students and students in the last two years of their undergraduate work. The fund provides interest-free loans to qualified students from Latin American and Caribbean countries, and upon completion of their studies, recipients are expected to return and contribute to their respective home countries' development.