St. Olaf College honored as a top producer of Gilman Scholars
St. Olaf College has been named a top producer of Gilman Scholars, and was also recognized as an institution that had the greatest growth in the number of students earning the national scholarship.
The Gilman Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education. The Gilman Program provides over 3,000 scholarships a year to outstanding American undergraduate students who, due to financial constraints, might not otherwise study abroad. Eligible students can receive awards of up to $5,000 from the Gilman Program. Since the program’s establishment in 2001, more than 31,000 Gilman scholars from all U.S. states and territories have studied or interned in 151 countries around the globe.
“The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships is reshaping study abroad to make it more accessible and inclusive for U.S. students with financial constraints,” says St. Olaf International and Off-Campus Studies Advising Coordinator Brittan Duffing.
Each year, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces the top producing institutions for the Gilman International Scholarship Program at the Diversity Abroad Conference. For the 2020 conference, Associate Director of International and Off-Campus Studies Theresa Heath represented St. Olaf on the Gilman Scholarship panel.
Eleven students from St. Olaf received Gilman awards for the 2018–19 academic year, the year with the most recent data on student study abroad participation.
“Having 11 students receive a 2018-2019 Gilman Scholarship is representative of campuswide efforts to raise awareness of the opportunity and to support applicants. We are extremely proud of St. Olaf’s applicants and recipients,” Duffing says.
The Gilman and Gilman-McCain Scholarship Programs broaden the student population that studies and interns abroad. The programs aim to encourage students to study and intern in a diverse array of countries or areas and world regions. The programs also encourage students to study languages, especially critical need languages. St. Olaf students interested in applying for a Gilman Scholarship should contact Duffing at duffin1@stolaf.edu to begin the process.
“It is an honor to be recognized with the Gilman Scholarship Top Producer and Greatest Growth awards. The commitment of many offices and individuals at St. Olaf in helping students apply to Gilman has proven key to our students’ success with their applications,” Duffing says. “We look forward to continuing and expanding our collaboration with the Financial Aid Office, Center for Academic Advising and Support, TRIO Student Support Services, and others to help more students achieve their goals of studying or interning abroad.”