Apply for Global Education Funds

This application supports undergraduate arts and sciences majors who are currently enrolled on the Columbus campus. Each scholarship has additional eligibility requirements.

To be eligible for funding, the global education program must be a credit-bearing program that is approved by Ohio State. This funding does not apply to service learning programs or internships. Please see the Office of International Affairs global education search engine for a listing of Ohio State-approved global education programs. Students may apply for funding before being admitted to their program.

Submit only one online application for each deadline listed below.

• Autumn 2024 Deadline: Sunday, October 13, 2024
  Applies to funding for winter break 2024, spring semester 2025, and spring break 2025 global education programs.
• Spring 2025 Deadline: Monday, January 13, 2025
  Applies to funding for all summer 2025, autumn semester (only) 2025, and academic year 2025 – 2026 global education programs.

Selection Process

Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis. The review committee carefully considers all documents submitted.  In addition, the student’s academic record and information on financial need may be collected by the committee coordinator, shared with the review committee, and considered in the selection process.

Award Distribution

Students who are selected for an award will be notified via their BuckeyeMail account. Awards are normally posted to the term in which you are registered for the global education program and during which you are charged the global education program fee. For trips occurring outside of an academic term, funding will usually be posted to the preceding term.

Change of Plans

Students who are awarded a scholarship or grant and do not travel as described in their scholarship application must notify the award contact person immediately. Your award may need to be modified, or in the event you do not study abroad, the award will be canceled.

Contact Person: Ann Rottersman, Director of Student Programs, rottersman.1@osu.edu.

University supported travel to risk designated locations requires review and may entail restrictions or stipulations.

Undergraduate students:

• Ohio State scholarship or grant funding for travel to risk designated countries is available for use on approved global education programs listed in the Office of International Affairs (OIA) global education search engine or other university managed travel approved by the International Travel Policy Committee (ITPC).
• Ohio State scholarship or grant funding for individual travel to countries with a specific risk designated region(s) requires review of the proposed itinerary relevant to the excluded regions. Funding for individual undergraduate travel is subject to ITPC review. Funding is restricted for travel to certain risk designated region(s).
• The petition process factors academic rationale and an individual safety proposal into consideration. Petitions should be submitted at least 90-days in advance of travel and prior to utilization of university funding.    

For further information on the ITPC risk designated policy or the petition process, please contact international risk management at IRM@osu.edu.

Travel Registration and Insurance Enrollment

Ohio State students using university scholarship or grant funding for individual travel to international locations are required to register their travel. Travel Registration includes completion of emergency response information, access to pre-departure health and safety modules and enrollment in the supplemental international insurance. The insurance includes specific coverage for medical care, medical evacuation, repatriation, and political security and natural disaster evacuation. There is a modest daily rate for the insurance enrollment that students should calculate into budget proposals for funding. Students participating in global education programming coordinated through OIA are already registered in the system and automatically enrolled in the supplemental international insurance. 

Please note: As part of the application you will be asked to upload the following two documents as one .pdf file. Only a .pdf file may be uploaded. You will find information below on combining two documents into one .pdf file.

Personal statement

Describe your plans for your global education program including how you are preparing yourself culturally for this experience, how you are preparing yourself financially including your own financial contribution, and discuss the relevance of your proposed global education program in relation to your academic and professional goals. The personal statement is a very important part of your application. We strongly encourage you to give thought and time to this requirement so that you submit a competitive statement. For guidance on writing a personal statement, please see the listed suggestions and resources.

• The personal statement should be approximately 500 words in length.
• The following must appear in the upper right-hand corner of your personal statement:  Last Name, First Name, and OSU ID number.

Detailed Budget

Provide program costs including airfare and an estimate of costs not included in the program fee.

• If you have received a completed Financial Aid Education Abroad Budget Letter issued by the Office of International Affairs and detailing your program costs, please upload this form as your budget.
• If you have not received a Budget Sheet from OIA, please find your program with the OIA search tool and locate your “Budget Sheet” for the correct term abroad. The budget sheet is usually listed under the "Financial" link found just above the "Information Sheet."
• If you have not yet received a program budget sheet from OIA and a current budget sheet is not listed on the program web page, please contact OIA for a copy of the most recent program budget sheet or complete and upload the following budget form. Please contact OIA for assistance in estimating your costs.

Uploading Complete PDF

As part of the application you must combine the preceding two documents and save them as one .pdf file. Only a .pdf file may be uploaded.  When combining your documents, be certain to order them as follows:

1. personal statement
2. detailed budget

For help combining documents into one .pdf file, please see how to merge PDF files or contact Ohio State's Digital Union.

The document must be saved and named in the following format:  Last Name_#_Study Abroad Funding Application.pdf. (For example:  Jane Buckeye.123 would save as Buckeye_123_Study Abroad Funding Application.pdf.)

Complete the Online Application Form and Upload Your Document

Submit only one online application for each of the two deadlines listed above.

Before submitting your application, review all information entered to ensure there are no errors. Once you submit your application you will not be able to make any changes.

• Be certain that your application document includes the following in this order:
  1. personal statement
  2. detailed budget
• Name your document as instructed in Step 1
• Save your document as a .pdf file (Only a .pdf file may be uploaded.)
  For help combining separate documents into one .pdf, please refer to Step 1.

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