Honors College Study Abroad Planning Award
Plan your 2023 summer or semester abroad!
New Application Cycle Open! Application open from December 15 - February 15.
The Honors College wants to see you study abroad this year and next! For Summer 2023, Fall 2023 and Spring 2024, we are providing up to $60,000 in scholarships for students who want to attend programs to study, intern, or do community projects around the world. This scholarship program is specifically designed for you to pick your program early so that you can meet all of the due dates and maximize potential scholarship opportunities.
The Honors Study Abroad Scholarship will provide students with:
- Up to $1000 scholarship for 1- to 3-week programs
- Up to $2000 scholarship for 3-week or longer programs
Important note: Honors College scholarship funds will be disbursed in the semester of travel, usually 10 days before the semester in which your program starts. Scholarships cannot be awarded beyond a student’s cost of attendance, which includes program fees, tuition, airfare, and living expenses. Depending on the program a student picks, the student may still need to pay for program deposits or other expenses like airfare out of pocket before the scholarship and financial aid is applied.
Other requirements: In order to receive Honors College funding, students must also apply to the UTSA International Education Fund, which also provides additional funding. These two applications are very similar and applying to both will not require too much additional time.
Further Incentives
Students who also apply for one of the opportunities below will also receive up to $1000 more in funding from the Honors College. Students must apply to one of the following:
- The Benjamin Gilman Scholarship for Study Abroad (apply at the same time as the Honors Planning Award)
- The Gilman McCain Scholarship for Study Abroad
- Boren Scholarship (summer, semester and full year language programs)
- Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Scholarship (opens mid-December each year)
- Fund for Education Abroad Scholarship
You don’t need to win one of these awards to receive extra scholarship funds from the Honors College. Simply apply. Students must coordinate scholarship submission and receive advising before submission through The UTSA Office of Nationally Competitive Awards. We have designed the Honors scholarship essay questions to be very similar to these other awards. We highly encourage students to apply to the Gilman Scholarship. Students can apply to Gilman up to one year in advance of their program and can apply up to two times to the award if they submit early (Apply in October for Spring, Summer, and Fall programs; Apply in March for Summer, Fall and Spring programs of the following year).
Picking a Program
In order to apply for the scholarship and further incentives, you need to have picked a program. Its ok if you are applying to the study abroad itself program later. Students are encouraged to use this opportunity to diversify their course of study beyond your major. You are not required to study abroad in the field of your major. Study abroad would be a fantastic opportunity to add a minor in languages or explore new fields in humanities and social sciences to complement science and business degrees. In your application, you will be writing about your program choice and how it will help you grow.
Listed below are some programs across disciplines that we think will be super impactful to build your resume, however, if you want to pick your own program, you are still be eligible to apply. Featured programs include research, internship, and service opportunities:
Short-term Programs
Honors College Study Abroad Program - Japan
- Honors College Costa Program already has scholarships applied, but students are encouraged to apply to International Education Fund and Gilman, which can pay for tuition, remaining program fee, and other travel expenses.
Semester Programs
All UTSA Exchange Programs (Locations include Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom)
University Studies Abroad Consortion (Locations worldwide with reasonable prices)
Summer Programs
Abroad UTSA - Direct Enroll: Language and Culture in La Rioja, Spain – Summer:
University of Liverpool Summer Research Program, Exchange
ISA – Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands – Multidisciplinary Studies with Fieldwork:
ISA Service Learning Locations
CIEE Summer Global Internships (Barcelona, Lisbon, Dublin, Rome, Prague, Cape Town, Singapore, and others locations). Note all CIEE programs have discounts for Hispanic Serving Institutions and for Pell Grant recipients:
CIEE Summer Community Public Health in Buenos Aires, Argentina
CIEE Summer Community Public Health in Gaborone, Botswana
CIEE Summer Comparative Health Studies – London and Amsterdam
CIEE Summer Tropical Ecology Plus Conservation in Monteverde, Costa Rica
Spanish for Healthcare Professionals, Instituto Franklin - Alcala de Henares, Spain
UTSA College of Business European Innovation Academy in Portugal
UTSA Archaeological Field School in Belize
Amideast: Social Innovation Abroad in Tunisia
FIE Conflict and Struggle for Peace: Explorations in Ireland and the Middle East
Arcadia STEM Summer Research Program, University College Dublin, Ireland
IFSA Tech Accelerator Program in Prague, Czechia
Eligibility
- Students must be a member in the Honors College.
- Final scholarship amounts cannot exceed the overall cost of attendance + travel.
- Students must be in an academic study abroad, internship, service learning, or research program. Program must be credit bearing, either by transfer or course offered by UTSA.* Independent travel outside of a structured program is not eligible.
- Scholarship awardees must comply with all requirements, regulations, and policies established by UTSA Education Abroad.
- Students can be in any year, from their first year to the year they graduate.
- Must have 2.5 GPA, as required by UTSA Education Abroad, or higher, depending on program.
- This award cannot be applied to students from the Top Scholar Program or Terry Scholar Program, which already provides international enrichment funding.
- Student must attend the program to have the scholarship disburse or attend similar program in the case of cancellation.
*Course Credit: Students who need to earn university credit for Internship, Service Learning, or other programs that do not issue credit may sign up for HON 3401. Honors Cultural Exploration. (1-0) 1 Credit Hour. (Approximately $660 for tuition and fees). This 1 credit course will feature a series of short reflections that students will write prior to, during, and following return.
Application Process
In order to apply for the Honors College Study Abroad Scholarship, students must have picked a study abroad program. The student does not need to have applied yet to the program.
Students must submit:
- Scholarship Hub application.
- A statement of purpose (1-2 pages). In your essay, be specific in describing your reasons for studying abroad as it pertains to your specific study abroad program. Our application question is directly taken from the Gilman Scholarship for study abroad. Further advice on writing your essay can be found here.
- Budget information about your program.
Please address ALL of the questions below, in no particular order:
- How will studying or interning abroad help you achieve your future academic or professional goals?
- Why did you select your specific program and host country?
- How are you academically prepared to be a successful scholar abroad? If you have faced significant academic difficulties, tell us about those and how you are overcoming them.
- What examples of knowledge, skills, and experiences will you draw on to meet the challenges of going abroad?
The Honors Study Abroad Scholarship Application opens on December 15 and closes on February 15. Note that further incentive programs may have different deadlines.
For questions, please contact Andrew.Chapman2@utsa.edu
