Fund for Education Abroad Doubles Commitment to Increasing Access
to Study Abroad with 100 Scholarships Totaling $335,000
First-generation college, minority and community college students comprise 2018 FEA Scholars
Download the full Press Release here.
WASHINGTON, DC, April 9, 2018 – The Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) has increased access to international education by granting a record-breaking 100 scholarships totaling $335,000 to US students consistently underrepresented in study abroad. These figures represent a doubling of the number of scholarships and a $110,000 (49%) increase over funds granted last year.
The students come from a variety of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and represent higher education institutions across the country. FEA funds scholarships of up to $10,000 for study abroad, enabling students to study across the globe for a minimum of four weeks to a full academic year.
Including this year’s recipients, a total of 268 scholars, including minority, first-generation college and community college students, have benefited from over $1.3 million in scholarships granted since FEA’s inception in 2010. This year, 93% of the students are of minority backgrounds, and 91% are first-generation college students. Additionally, 32% of all the FEA scholars have a community college background.
“Access to education should be a right, never a privilege,” said CAPA The Global Education Network President John Christian, a member of the FEA Access Advisory Board and FEA Access Partner. “As a community working together to brighten the future for all our students, every day we must remain focused on advancing diversity and inclusive excellence in global education.” Access Partners provide vital funding to ensure more American students have the opportunity to study abroad on partner programs.
“Today, students are the key to forging enduring links to citizens of other cultures as classmates, neighbors, roommates and friends,” said FEA Executive Director Jennifer Calvert. “It’s vital these students represent the U.S. in all its diversity and that they have the encouragement and financial support of donors, companies, and foundations who value U.S. representation in the world.”
The 2018 FEA scholarship winners were selected from a pool of over 2,300 applicants representing approximately 517 colleges and universities across the country. A team of 138 volunteer reviewers individually read and reviewed each application.
The 2018 Fund for Education Abroad Scholars include:
Claudia Acuna (Skyline College, CA), Summer 2018, Hong Kong, *Artigas-Etchegaray Family Scholarship
Maria Aguilera (Samford University, AL), Fall 2018, England, *CAPA The Global Education Network Scholarship
Sarah Allevato (Wake Technical Community College, NC), Summer 2018, England, *Gugel-McPherson Family Scholarship
Marell Alvarez (College of Lake Country, IL), Fall 2018, Spain
Gerard Avelino (California State University, CA), Academic Year 2018-19, France, *Rainbow Scholarship
Felipe Bautista (Methodist University, NC), Spring 2019, South Korea
Jazmine Beatty (Texas State University, TX), Summer 2018, Italy, *CAPA The Global Education Network Scholarship
Ariel Bermudez (Gonzaga University, WA), Summer 2018, Dominican Republic, *CIEE Scholarship
Katelyn Brown (Merrimack College, MA), Fall 2018, Australia *CAPA The Global Education Network Scholarship
Paul Chambers (Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, AZ), Summer 2018, Jordan, *SIT Study Abroad Scholarship
Selena Chambers (Virginia Wesleyan College, VA), Fall 2018, Jordan, *SIT Study Abroad Scholarship
Elysa Chapa (University of Texas-San Antonio, TX), Summer 2018, Mexico, *IFSA Scholarship
Elyse Chapa (University of Texas-San Antonio, TX), Summer 2018, Mexico, *IFSA Scholarship
Wei Wei Chen (Emory University, GA), Summer 2018, Hong Kong, *Foundation for Global Scholars’ Scholarship
Deza’Rae Collins (Portland State University, OR), Summer 2018, England, * IFSA Scholarship
Heather Cook (York College of Pennsylvania, PA), Summer 2018, Peru, *IFSA Scholarship
Maya Cothran (Howard University, DC), Summer 2018, Mexico, *Howard University Scholarship for HBCU Students
Dominique Cozza (Florida State University, FL), Fall 2018, England, *The Intern Group Scholarship
Monica Curiel (San Diego State, CA), Fall 2018, Italy
Kimberly Davis (University of North Texas, TX), Summer 2018, Japan
Chelsea De Mesa (California State University, CA), Academic Year 2018-19, South Korea
Victoria Dennis (North Carolina A&T State University, NC), Summer 2018, Chile, *Howard University Scholarship for HBCU Students
Domenicque Epati-Hale (Azusa Pacific University, CA), Summer 2018, Hong Kong, *The Intern Group Scholarship
Gabrielle Fournier Connell (Miami Dade College, FL), Summer 2018, Japan, *The Intern Group Scholarship
Leana Frankul (University of California-Berkeley, CA), Summer 2018, Switzerland
Francisco Garcia (University of Texas-San Antonio, TX), Spring 2019, England
Kalena Gomez (Florida International University, FL), Academic Year 2018-19, South Korea
Dominic Gonzalez (California State Polytechnic University, CA), Summer 2018, China, *The Intern Group Scholarship
Adamari Gonzalez-Carlos (University of Texas-Austin, TX), Fall 2018, Spain, *Simpson Sisters’ Scholarship
Kimberly Gutierrez (Denison University, OH), Spring 2019, Spain, *CIEE Scholarship
Elise Hanks-Witaszek (Lebanon Valley College, PA), Fall 2018, China, *CAPA The Global Education Network Scholarship
Lasha Hicks (North Carolina A&T State University, NC), Summer 2018, Cyprus
Da’Janae Jefferson (University of Maryland, College Park), Summer 2018, South Africa, *DC Area Scholarship
Liza Marie Jimenez-Ojeda (DePauw University, IN), Spring 2019, Costa Rica, *IFSA Scholarship
Vivia Johnson (Albany State University, GA), Summer 2018, Trinidad and Tobago, *Howard University Scholarship for HBCU Students
Destiney Jones (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI), Summer 2018, England, *CAPA The Global Education Network Scholarship
Hollie Jones (East Carolina University, NC), Summer 2018, Spain
Jazmin Juarez (University of Illinois at Chicago, IL), Fall 2018, China, *CIEE Scholarship
Katerina Kerastaris (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA), Fall 2018, Italy
Evelyn Kono (Citrus Community College, CA), Summer 2018, Japan, *Calvert Family Scholarship
Felix Lee (Boston College, MA), Fall 2018, Hong Kong
Nicholas Leone (College of the Holy Cross, MA), Academic Year 2018-19, Australia
Alfredo Loli (CUNY-Hunter College, NY), Summer 2018, Germany, *Rainbow Scholarship
Veronica Lopez (College of DuPage, IL), Summer 2018, Costa Rica
Jimmy Luu (University of South Florida, FL), Summer 2018, England
Jane Ly (University of California, Los Angeles, CA), Summer 2018, Japan, *Rainbow Scholarship
Kimberly Mack (West Texas A&M, TX), Academic Year 2018-19, Norway
Roman Magallanes (DePauw University, IN), Spring 2019, Spain
Eva Maldonado-Sanchez (East Carolina University, NC), Summer 2018, Spain
Charlina Mansaray (George Mason University, VA), Spring 2019, South Korea
Ava Mark (Humboldt State University, CA), Academic Year 2018-19, China
Maritza Maturino (Mountain View Community College, TX), Summer 2018, Spain, *Martha and Jeff Johnson Scholarship
Anthony McKinney (California State University, Chico, CA), Academic Year 2018-19, Germany
Hesbond McOdingo (Western Washington University, WA), Summer 2018, Mexico
Candy Melara (Northern Illinois University, IL), Summer 2018, Tanzania, *Foundation for Global Scholars’ Scholarship
Eunice Melendez (CUNY – Hunter College, NY), Spring 2019, Costa Rica, *Foundation for Global Scholars’ Scholarship
Waderlie Mendez (SUNY Geneseo, NY), Summer 2018, Spain
Tinia Montford (University of San Francisco, CA), Spring 2019, Greece
Felipe Morfin Martinez (University of California, San Diego, CA), Summer 2018, France, *Jane Gluckmann and Carol Rausch Go Global Scholarship
Linda Moua (University of California, Los Angeles, CA), Summer 2018, Thailand
Jazmyn Mustafa (Ohio State University, OH), Summer 2018, Scotland, *Rainbow Scholarship
Susan Naseri (University of Connecticut, CT), Summer 2018, France, *BASAA Scholarship
Caressa Nguyen (The Evergreen State College, WA), Fall 2018, Vietnam, Morocco, Bolivia, *SIT Study Abroad Scholarship
Cathy Nguyen (College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University, MN), Fall 2018, England, *Minnesota Scholarship
Hana Nguyen (University of Minnesota, MN), Summer 2018, England, *IFSA Scholarship
Linda Nguyen (Ohio State University, OH), Academic Year 2018-19, Japan
Melissa Nieves (New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ), Summer 2018, Italy
Maureen Nwizu (Vanderbilt University, TN), Fall 2018, Scotland, *IFSA Scholarship
Amy Odaira (University of Hawaii at Hilo, HI), Academic Year 2018-19, Sweden and Japan
Maha Ouni (Temple University, PA), Summer 2018, France, *Foundation for Global Scholars’ Scholarship
Telijah Patterson (LaGuardia Community College, NY), Summer 2018, China *The Intern Group Scholarship
Dulce Perez Briones (Georgetown University, DC), Spring 2019, South Korea, *DC Area Scholarship
Kylie Perkins (University of Colorado at Boulder, CO), Summer 2018, Italy, *CAPA The Global Education Network Scholarship
Shamira Quiñones (University of Illinois at Chicago, IL), Fall 2018, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, *CIEE Scholarship
Rachel Rabayeva (Bunker Hill Community College, MA), Summer 2018, Japan
Juaniece Rainey (University of Connecticut, CT), Summer 2018, Italy
Sharlett Ramos (San Diego State University, CA), Fall 2018, Italy
Maise Rashid (University of Texas at San Antonio, TX), Fall 2018, Italy
Christian Sanders (Presbyterian College, SC), Summer 2018, France
Michael Savage (Franklin & Marshall College, PA), Summer 2018, South Africa, *SIT Study Abroad Scholarship
Ikran Sheikh-Mursal (Macalester College, MN), Spring 2019, Jordan, *CIEE Scholarship
Keandra Stokes (College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, MN), Fall 2018, Greece and Italy
Marisa Tadajewski (University of Michigan, Flint, MI), Summer 2018, Ireland, *The Intern Group Scholarship
Yonas Taib (University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA), Summer 2018, Germany, *BASAA Scholarship
Reuben Tang (Western Kentucky University, KY), Summer 2018, Taiwan
Jasmyn Thomas (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC), Summer 2018, China, *SIT Study Abroad Scholarship
Aurora Torres (University of Texas at Arlington, TX), Summer 2018, South Korea
Jonelle Trillo (Citrus College, CA), Summer 2018, Japan
Cynthia Ubah (University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI), Summer 2018, Thailand
Wendy Vong (University of Georgia, GA), Summer 2018, Vietnam, *Hiliary Echo Douglas Memorial Scholarship
Truc Vu (University of Georgia, GA), Summer 2018, Hong Kong, * The Intern Group Scholarship
Alberto Weeks (University of Maryland, College Park, MD), Academic Year 2018-19, Japan, *DC Area Scholarship
Taemora Williams (University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR), Summer 2018, Spain, *Steckley-Weitzel Family Scholarship
Donald Williams Jr (Mercer University, GA), Summer 2018, Spain, *Foundation for Global Scholars Scholarship
Madison Wilson (Emerson College, MA), Summer 2018, South Korea, *CIEE Scholarship
Valentino Wolf (University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI), Fall 2018, Chile, *CIEE Scholarship
Cievia Xiong (California State University, Chico, CA), Academic Year 2018-19, Thailand
Maricella Xiong (Bethel University, MN), Fall 2018, Indonesia, *SIT Study Abroad Scholarship
Caleb Yip (Georgetown University, DC), Summer 2018, France, *DC Area Scholarship
Jacee Yorks (Wilkes University, PA), Summer 2018, Australia, *CAPA The Global Education Network Scholarship
Xiao Mie Zhu (University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN), Summer 2018, South Korea
FEA offers general and dedicated scholarships. Dedicated scholarships include numerous regional scholarships, Access Partner Scholarships, the Hiliary Echo Douglas Memorial scholarship, which is dedicated to those who wish to travel to Vietnam, the Jane Gluckmann & Carol Rausch Go Global scholarship, for students studying abroad in Mexico, Central America, South America, France, or Germany, and a Rainbow scholarship for students nationwide who self-identify as LGBTQI.
The mission of the Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) is to provide scholarships and ongoing support to students who are underrepresented among the U.S. study abroad population, making life-changing, international experiences accessible to all by supporting minority and first-generation college students before, during, and after they participate in education abroad programs. FEA aims to make the demographics of U.S. undergraduates studying abroad reflect the rich diversity of the U.S. population. FEA won the 2015 Diversity Abroad Excellence in Diversifying International Education Award and GoAbroad.com’s 2015 Innovation in Philanthropy Award.