US Students Wishing to Study Abroad in 2023 Encouraged to Apply for Benjamin Gilman International Scholarship

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State has advised undergraduate students in the United States who wish to study abroad this year, to apply for scholarships awarded under the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship program.

According to a media release from the US Department of State, the deadline to submit scholarship applications for the academic year 2023/24 is Thursday, March 9, 2023, Erudera.com reports.

To be eligible for the program, students should have been awarded Pell Grants, which are grants typically provided to undergraduate students from low-income families.

“Gilman Scholars are selected by a merit-based, competitive process and recipients must use the award to defray eligible study or intern abroad costs. These costs may include program tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance, international airfare, and passport and visa fees,” the Department’s media release reads.

Benjamin Gilman Scholarship program was launched in 2001. Since then, over 36,000 students from 50 US states have received support under the program to pursue education or internships in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Nearly 70 percent of those who have received Gilman scholarships self-identify as racial or ethnic minorities, 60 percent indicated they are from rural communities and small towns, while one-half are first-generation college students.

More than 1,000 American undergraduate students attending 452 colleges were selected for the Gilman Scholarship Program in October 2022.

Data from the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report have shown that 14,549 US students went abroad in the 2020/21 academic year, with Europe hosting more than half of the students. That was a 91 percent decrease from the 2019/20 academic year when 162,633 students from the United States went abroad to continue their studies.

The number of US students abroad over the past years was as follows:

• 347,099 in the 2018/19 academic year
• 341,751 in 2017/18
• 332,727 in 2016/17
• 325,339 in 2015/16
• 313,415 in 2014/15
• 304,467 in 2013/14
• 289,408 in 2012/13

Seven leading higher education institutions sending the most US students abroad in 2020/21 include Texas A&M University – College Station which sent a total of 569 students, followed by Georgia Institute of Technology with 404 students, Florida State University with 400 students, Miami University – Oxford with 391 students, University of Texas – Austin with 388 students, New York University sending 336 US students and University of South Carolina – Columbia sending a total of 289 students.

Open Doors 2022 report has also revealed that the number of international students at US universities and colleges in 2021/22 increased by four percent, from 914,095 in the 2020/21 academic year to 948,519 international students in 2021/22.

>> Vietnam Ranks Fifth in Number of International Students in US, According to Report

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