As part of our commitment to sending great students abroad, AFS-USA offers a scholarship with both need and merit-based component.
Scholarships allow us to extend the reach of our mission by:
- Enabling students to go abroad who otherwise could not
- Providing a tool for making new connections and increasing the visibility of AFS
Scholarships also help us…
- Attract and recognize high-caliber students
- Achieve organizational goals (longer and earlier)
- Support our partners abroad and contribute to network health (by encouraging flexibility)
We have changed our Scholarship application process so that we ask all applicants interested in a Scholarship to submit one application that comprises of two parts. The application is called: AFS Cultural Ambassador Scholarship Application.
The first part of the scholarship application is the submission of a FAST application (to determine level of need). The second part is the submission of a video that answers a few key questions and allows the judges to learn more about the applicant. Once the application is submitted, it is reviewed by a team of judges, and award amounts are determined. Many donors impose specific scholarship restrictions such as destination country, home state, Area Team, program length, program content etc. Thus, instead of asking applicants to apply for specific scholarships (and ask them to identify themselves as either need or merit applicants), we ask them to submit one full application and our staff pair them with the best-suited scholarship(s) on our end. We feel that this gives us the maximum opportunity to apply scholarship dollars to all scholarship applicants.
Scholarship judging announcements are generally made within two months after the scholarship application deadline. The application deadline for NH is generally set for April and SH for October.
See below the scholarship instructions and eligibility requirements that are communicated to the applicants via their AFS Dashboard.
AFS-USA scholarships are made possible by the generosity of numerous donors who all have a deep connection with AFS and value intercultural exchanges as necessary for the promotion of peace and justice in the world. Your application will be reviewed and matched with the most appropriate merit, need-based, geographic, etc. based scholarship, if available. Please note that scholarship awards are extremely limited and that submitting an application does not guarantee a scholarship award. Additionally, all scholarships are partial, and scholarship award amounts will be determined based on program length.
Once you open a Scholarship Application, more information will be provided as a To-Do Item in your AFS Application.
Eligible Applicants are:
- Those who have completed the full application to any program (including paying the Program Deposit) and whose application will be transferred abroad.
- All applicants are asked to submit a short video that displays their personality, passion for contributing to the AFS mission, and motivation to study abroad.
- Those who want to be considered for need-based scholarships must also include the submission of a FAST financial aid application.
If awarded a scholarship AFS-USA will notify you via Scholarship Award Acceptance Letter, which will include the total amount of the scholarship reward and encompass all of your awarded scholarships.
If you have any questions or concerns about scholarships, please contact:
Adriana Miladinovic, Study Abroad Manager, Scholarships and Diversity Initiatives (amildinovic@afsusa.org)
Caitlin Schneider, Senior Director of Study Abroad (cschneider@afsusa.org)
For more information about scholarships, you can visit the scholarships FAQ page.