Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program

Summary

William & Mary is holding an internal competition for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair's FY 2022 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. The intent of the International Academic Opportunity Act, the authorizing legislation for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, is to broaden the U.S. student population that participates in study abroad by focusing on those students who would not otherwise study outside the United States due to financial constraints.

Full Description

The Gilman Program provides merit-based scholarships of up to $5,000 to eligible students to assist with the cost of up to one academic year of undergraduate study abroad. A limited number
of supplemental Critical Need Language Awards of up to $3,000 are also provided for the study of critical languages, including, but not limited to: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu. Program funding also includes 100 awards specifically dedicated to the John McCain International Scholarship for the Children of Military Families (Gilman-McCain Scholarship), which will provide scholarships of $5,000 for the children of active-duty military personnel receiving any type of Title IV federal financial aid. Since its inception in 2001, the Gilman Program has awarded more than 34,000 scholarships to U.S. undergraduate students representing over 1,300 colleges and universities from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories for study in approximately 155 countries around the world.

Mission of the Gilman Program:
• Develop a generation of future American leaders who represent the rich diversity of the nation and have the international networks and skills to advance U.S. national security and economic prosperity.
• Expand the U.S. student population that studies and interns abroad, helping more young Americans to gain the professional skills, language abilities, and knowledge of the world needed for successful careers.
• Broaden the destinations where U.S. students study and intern abroad, in order to build relationships, foster mutual understanding, and represent American culture and values, including in developing countries and countries critical to U.S. national security.
ECA seeks to encourage participating U.S. students to choose diverse study abroad destinations; to study languages, especially critical languages; to engage in credit-bearing coursework from a broad range of disciplines; and to consider career-oriented internships overseas. ECA also seeks to support U.S. students of diverse backgrounds through the application process and throughout their program; to help underrepresented U.S. institutions offer and promote study abroad opportunities for their students; and to support and build networks among Gilman alumni. These objectives should be addressed in proposals.

**Only one application per institution is allowed. For more information, please visit the Department of State Solicitation

The internal due date for review and determination of grant to move forward on the behalf of  W&M is 4/14/22 at 4PM ET.  Questions should be sent to wosp@wm.edu.

The agency due date is 4/28/22 by 5PM EST.