University Students Receive Federal Study Abroad Scholarship

University students from across the state will get the chance to study abroad with a federal scholarship. 

Eight students from three West Virginia universities will receive the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad in 2024.

A student from Marshall University (MU), six students from West Virginia University (WVU) and a student from Shepherd University (SU) were among the 1,700 recipients of the national scholarship.

Tyler Farley of Marshall University will study in Argentina, while Molly Conrad of Shepherd University will study in Greece. 

From WVU: 

• Ariana Burks will spend two weeks this May in Thailand studying the importance of gastrodiplomacy, the practice of using food to share culture. She was also awarded a Critical Language Scholarship in 2023 and spent last summer studying Arabic in Oman.
  
  
• Helen Knight will also travel to Thailand in May.
  
  
• Kaleb Cole will travel to Australia this fall to study computer science. 
  
  
• Emily Diaz already used her scholarship to participate in the Honors College-sponsored Cross-Cultural Explorations: Germany and France program during spring break.
  
  
• Marcus Hahn traveled to Edinburgh and London this spring as part of United Kingdom: Health Sciences in Great Britain.
  
  
• Stephanie Sarfo was awarded a scholarship to study in South Korea this summer. 

Available to undergraduates who receive federal Pell Grant funding, the Gilman Scholarship enables students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad with up to $5,000 to apply towards their study abroad or internship program costs.

The Gilman program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE).