CIEE Scholarships Increase Study Abroad Diversity by 65 Percent

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CIEE's GAIN scholarships and grants play an important role in helping to create access for students who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to study abroad.

Portland, Maine (PRWEB) September 27, 2012

CIEE’s Global Access Initiative (GAIN) has awarded a record number of scholarships to 524 college and university students to study around the world. With nearly $700,000 out of the pledged $1 million awarded to date, CIEE’s GAIN scholarship program represents the largest amount of scholarship funds available solely for the purpose of expanding access to study abroad for underrepresented students.

In just one year, the GAIN scholarship program has increased CIEE’s annual scholarship giving to more than $3 million total to help make studying abroad a possibility for students of diverse backgrounds and academic majors.

Through GAIN:

•     Ethnic diversity increased 65 percent in CIEE’s 2012 summer program and 25 percent in the 2012 fall semester.
•     More than 200 additional nontraditional students attended a CIEE study abroad program in the last six months.
•     Participation among men, an underrepresented group in study abroad programs, increased, bucking a national trend that has held steady for the past 50 years.

As the world leader in international education exchange, CIEE is committed to making study abroad available to all students. The GAIN scholarship program is one way CIEE is keeping this commitment as all funds go to students facing some of the most common barriers to international study, such as high costs, economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and underrepresented fields of study like science, technology, engineering, and math. CIEE’s goal: that every student—regardless of economic means or academic major—has the opportunity to enhance his or her education through time spent living, studying, and exploring in another country.

According to CIEE Director of Enrollment Management Elizabeth Lauze, “GAIN scholarships and grants play an important role in helping to create access for students who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to study abroad. We’re pleased to be able to help these students attend high-quality international programs that will develop their intercultural skills and better prepare them for leading and contributing in today’s world.”

To date, students from 160 colleges and universities across the country have been awarded scholarships to CIEE study centers participating in programs ranging from Business, Language, and Culture in Shanghai, China, to Tropical Ecology and Conservation in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Recipients are chosen based on a submitted essay about the barriers he or she needs to overcome in order to study abroad, how he or she plans to encourage students facing similar challenges to study abroad, and why studying abroad is important to students from all walks of life.

CIEE
A non-profit, non-governmental organization, CIEE is the world leader in international exchange. For 65 years CIEE has helped thousands of students, professionals, and educators gain the knowledge and skills necessary to live and work in a globally independent and culturally diverse world by offering the most comprehensive, relevant, and valuable exchange programs available.

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