Gilman Scholarship

The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship is dedicated to help U.S. citizen undergraduate students with financial needs to pursue study or internship abroad. Since the beginning of the program in 2001, the program has helped over 10,000 students to achieve their goals of studying and interning abroad.

In addition to providing grants to selected students, the Gilman Scholarship program also provides many other supports to its recipients. For example, while I was in Korea, I was invited to an event in the cultural center of the U.S. Embassy where I had the opportunity to meet with diplomatic officials working in Korea as well as other Gilman scholars studying in Korea. Through this event, I learned a lot about the diplomatic relation between the U.S. and Korea, and I was also immersed to foreign service career opportunities.

Throughout the year, the Gilman Scholarship program also organizes many networking events to connect alumni with diplomatic officials. Thus, the benefit of the program is much more than the grant it provides. I truly appreciate all the supports that the Gilman Scholarship program provided me. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND everyone who is eligible to apply for the scholarship.

For more information about the program, please visit  http://www.iie.org/programs/gilman-scholarship-program

Here is a list of eligibility:

• The applicant must be receiving a Federal Pell Grant or provide proof that he/she will be receiving a Pell Grant at the time of application or during the term of his/her study abroad program or internship. 
• The applicant is applying to or has been accepted into a study abroad program or internship eligible for credit by the student’s accredited institution of higher education in the U.S.
• The applicant is studying or interning abroad for at least four weeks in one country. Programs going to more than one country are eligible if the student will be in one country for at least four consecutive weeks.
• The applicant is studying or interning abroad in any country except Cuba or a country on the U.S. Department of State’s current Travel Warning list.  

In this section, I documented my experience of applying the Gilman Scholarship as well as providing some tips on how to make a successful application. I hope you found this information useful, and more importantly, I hope that it can convince you to APPLY.