The US Department of State announced in May that 26 students from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, were awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships. This is UT’s highest number of Gilman recipients in a single award cycle, surpassing a previous record of 16, and totals over $100,000 in scholarships.
The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program enables students of limited financial means receive up to $5,000 to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to national security and economic prosperity. The program is named for Benjamin Gilman, who served from 1973 to 2003 in the US House of Representatives and for many years on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. To be eligible, applicants must be receiving a Federal Pell Grant during the time of application or provide proof that they will be receiving a Pell Grant during the term of their study abroad program or internship.
Heather Grigsby, program coordinator for the Programs Abroad Office in the Center for Global Engagement and a Gilman advisor, attributed the increase in UT scholarship recipients to the Program Abroad Office’s strengthened partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. “Many of these recipients took part in the OURF’s essay-writing workshops geared to this scholarship,” she said. “What a great result for our UT students.”
More than 3,000 US undergraduate students won Gilman scholarships in the current application cycle.
“As we support applicants for competitive awards like the Gilman,” said Laura De Furio, acting director of OURF, “we ask students to engage in self-reflection to develop clarity of purpose around their education and achievements at UT and capture their stories in writing. We are so proud that so many of our workshop participants were named Gilman Scholars.”
The next Gilman cycle opens in mid-August with an application deadline of October 6. The OURF and Programs Abroad Office will continue to provide student support for the Gilman and other nationally competitive scholarships to increase program accessibility and allow students to fund their dreams to go abroad.
More information about the Gilman International Scholarship is available through the Programs Abroad Office at 865-974-3177 or volsabroad@utk.edu.
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CONTACT:
Albrianna Jenkins (865-974-3177, ajenki58@utk.edu)
Brooks Clark (865-310-1277, nclark5@utk.edu)