Scholarships for International Students

Attending college in the U.S. can be an excellent choice for academic, career, and personal reasons.

Unfortunately, it can also be expensive.

Many international students rely on scholarships to help pay for tuition and living expenses.

Below we list some of the best scholarships for international students and give information about the application process.

Avvo Scholarship Program

Avvo is a website dedicated to helping customers find a lawyer in their area. They also offer free online legal advice.

If you are interested in pursuing legal studies after your bachelor’s degree, Avvo offers a single $5,000 scholarship each year.

The scholarship is open to anyone currently pursuing an official pre-law degree or to those in common pre-law majors, such as Political Science, Economics, Accounting, Finance, English, Philosophy, Criminal Justice, Engineering, or Medicine.

To apply, visit their website and fill out the relevant information by January 1st.

Berkeley College International Student Scholarships

Berkeley College, with campuses in New Jersey and New York City, offers scholarships to international students each year.

The scholarships are based on financial need as well as past academic performance.

Ranked 13th in international student enrollment, Berkeley College features an extremely diverse student body and a career-focused academic program.

To apply for the scholarship, fill out the application with your financial and academic information, and submit it promptly after your admissions application.

If you get the scholarship, you will be required to maintain a 2.5 GPA and full-time status.

Cappex American Scholarships

Cappex offers a free directory with information on more than $11 billion dollars in scholarship money. While there are other scholarship directories, what sets Cappex apart is how easy it is to refine your search.

For instance, you can search for scholarships specifically directed at international students. Not only that, but you can also refine your search by gender, ethnicity, country of origin, intended major, intended school, and numerous other factors.

Cappex makes it easy to find a scholarship tuned to your exact requirements and background.

CGTrader Scholarship

Are you passionate about the future of technology? Then the CGTrader scholarship might be for you.

With more than 1.2 million members, CGTrader is the largest 3D model marketplace.

Every year CGTrader sponsors a scholarship for $5,500. All you have to do is write an essay on the way an innovative technology might transform our lives.

An example of a past topic is “Our life on a spaceship: the future of mankind.”

First place receives $3,000 for educational expenses, and second and third place gets $2,000 and $500, respectively.

College Week Live

College Week Live takes an innovative approach to helping you select the right university.

Create a College Live account and you can research colleges by major and location, as well as watch presentations by authors and education specialists.

You can even chat live with admissions officers or current students from the school of your choice.

Not only is College Week Live a great research tool, it has information on more than five million dollars worth of scholarships. College Week Live is a great tool to help you choose an educational path and pay for it as well.

CollegeScholarships.org

CollegeScholarships.org is exactly what you’d expect from the name. They give you access to a huge array of scholarships of all types and amounts.

It is convenient to use and doesn’t require you to log in or create an account.

From the front page, you can refine your search by gender, school level, ethnicity, state, and award amount. You can also sort by the deadline to find scholarships you can apply for right away.

Fulbright Foreign Student Program

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program enables students from more than 155 countries to live and study in the United States.

Approximately 4,000 foreign students receive a Fulbright scholarship each year. Many more than that apply, as the Fulbright Foreign Student Program is extremely competitive.

If you are interested in applying, go here and select your country of origin from the drop-down menu.

Global Scholarships for International Students

Global Scholarships for International Students is a popular blog for anyone interested in international studies.

They are aimed at both U.S. students curious about studying abroad, as well as students from foreign countries coming to the United States.

Blog posts detail scholarship opportunities, give application tips, and talk about student life.

Their section of U.S. scholarships will be a great help for international students interested in studying in the United States.

GotChosen

GotChosen is an innovative social media company that integrates with existing web pages. Unlike some social media giants, they have a strict privacy policy, refusing to sell user data and deleting your information when you leave.

Recently, GotChosen added a unique scholarship opportunity. The applicant with the most upvotes will receive $5,000 toward their educational expenses.

All you have to do is register for GotChosen, add a photo, and apply for the scholarship. There are no GPA or financial need requirements, and you don’t need to write an essay. The scholarship is open to both U.S. and international students.

MindSumo

MindSumo is another company with a unique take on scholarships. MindSumo partners with Fortune 500 companies to create engineering or business problems for customers to solve.

They are now using their business model to offer scholarships to prospective students. The best thing about MindSumo’s scholarships is how little time it takes to apply.

Most challenges can be solved in 15 minutes or less, and more than half of the participants get some money. Each individual challenge can earn the participant as much as $200.

Organization of American States – The Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund

The Rowe Fund is a loan program for prospective international students from Latin America or the Caribbean.

The Rowe fund awards successful applicants with up to $15,000. The best part is that all of these loans are interest-free.

There are no application or processing fees, and payment is completely deferred while you are in school.

If your country is one of the Organization of American States (OAS) go here to begin the application process.

Scholars4Dev

Scholarships for Development, or scholars4dev, is an online listing of scholarships aimed at students from developing countries.

They also help those interested in pursuing development-related fields, or whose educational goals involve furthering global or national development.

Their goal is to “help you find opportunities for higher education and become agents of development in your own countries and the rest of the world.”

Visit their constantly updated list of scholarships here.

Sport-Scholarships.com

If you are an athlete, Sport-Scholarships.com might be for you. They are one of the major sports recruiting services worldwide, helping bring international students to live, study, and compete in the U.S.

The company consists entirely of former coaches and players, and they have an excellent reputation with American coaches.

If you are at the top of your field in a competitive sport, register to see what your chances are to receive a sports scholarship to study in the U.S.

The BrokerFish Scholarship for University Students

As an international student, not only will you need to pay for tuition and living expenses, but you will also need health insurance.

Purchasing international health insurance can be expensive, which is where BrokerFish comes in. A quick, free application to BrokerFish’s scholarship can net you $1,000 to pay for health insurance.

All you have to do is write a 500 to 1,000-word essay on “The Importance of International Health Insurance for Expatriates,” include a photograph that captures your argument, and email the completed application to scholarships@brokerfish.com.

The Ultimate Scholarship Book

Though there is a multitude of scholarship directories online, sometimes the old-fashioned way is the best way.

Each year the Ultimate Scholarship Book publishes a new, comprehensive listing of more than 1.5 million awards. These awards are organized into categories, so you can easily find a scholarship that fits you.

Not only will you get information on the awards, but the book also provides tips and strategies to write winning essays and sharpen your application and interviewing skills.

The Agha Kahn Development Network

The Agha Kahn Development Network funds postgraduate students with excellent academics from developing countries. Though they prefer students who are pursuing an MA, they also accept some Ph.D. students.

Half of the scholarship will be given as a grant, and the other half will be a loan. There is no interest on the loan, but there is a yearly service charge of 5%.

The Agha Kahn Development Network accepts students from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, Egypt, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, Mozambique, France, and Portugal.

MasterCard Foundation Scholarship Program for Africans

The MasterCard Foundation Scholarship Program awards scholarships to young adults from the Sub-Saharan region of Africa who are academically successful and passionate about contributing to the improvement of the continent.

Recipients receive money for tuition, living expenses, and a monthly stipend. To apply, applicants must be accepted into a U.S. or Canadian school and intend to study a subject relevant to growth sectors, such as manufacturing, banking, agriculture, or telecommunications.

Momeni Foundation Financial Assistance Scholarships

If you have a GPA over 3.0 and are of Iranian heritage, you can apply to the Momeni Foundation Financial Assistance Scholarships.

The foundation accepts applicants from any citizenship or country of origin, as well as prospective undergraduates, graduates, and doctoral students.

Each year they give out at least ten scholarships, with amounts ranging from $250 to $1,000.

To apply you’ll need a resume, a letter of acceptance from your school, transcripts, and proof of your Iranian heritage.

Roothbert Fund Scholarships

The Roothbert Fund gives out 20 scholarships each year ranging from $2,000 to $3,000. Though the scholarships are primarily aimed at students who desire employment in fields related to education, other career fields are considered as well.

Applicants should apply online from November 1 to February 1 for the following academic year. Before you apply you should be aware that you will have to interview to be accepted.

These interviews are in March and are held in New York, New Haven, Philadelphia, or Washington D.C. These interviews are scheduled on short notice and the Roothbert Fund does not pay transportation costs.

PEO International Peace Scholarships

The PEO International Peace Scholarship is aimed at women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Applicants must be intending to pursue graduate studies at a university in the U.S. or Canada. The scholarship is based on demonstrated need, but is not intended to cover all tuition or living expenses.

The highest amount PEO awards is $12,500, but lesser amounts are given out as well. Visit their website to request information about how to apply for the scholarship.

NCITD International Trade Scholarship Program

The National Council on International Trade Development awards a single scholarship each year. Eligible students must be studying international relations, economics, international business, or international law.

Both undergraduate and graduate students are accepted, though the applicant must be at least a junior at an accredited U.S. college.

If you are interested, apply here with a 2,500-word essay on your interest in international trade, an official transcript, and a letter of recommendation. The minimum amount disbursed is $1,000.

Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund

The Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund is part of the World Bank Family Network (WBFN).

The fund is open to all women over the age of 25 who are from developing countries. To apply, you must be committed to improving the well-being of women and children, and agree to serve for two years in your country of origin.

The disbursed amount ranges from $12,000 to $15,000 per year. You can apply online with a brief personal story, an estimate of your financial needs, and two reference letters.

Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

For those with an interest in the writer Ayn Rand, the Ayn Rand Institute holds an annual essay contest. Applicants must write an essay on Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged.

The contest is open to high school seniors, undergraduate, and graduate students from any country. The institute gives out fifty $100 prizes, five $500 prizes, three $2,500 prizes, and one $25,000 prize.

Unlike many scholarships, the prizes do not have to be used for educational purposes. The institute simply gives a check to the winner in the amount of the prize.

Once you’ve written your essay you can submit it to the institution online.

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Conclusion

Studying abroad in the U.S. is an exciting opportunity. But you don’t want to be struggling with your bills when you should be worrying about your studies.

There are a lot of resources to help pay for schooling out there for international students, but you should start looking for scholarships as soon as possible. The examples above will get you started in the right direction.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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