Kirkwood Community College has a large international student population, comprising of 8% of the student body or roughly 1,300 students, hailing from nations as far away as Southeast Asia, Sub Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
For students who were not born abroad but wish to strike out and see the world, experience other cultures and diversity, the International Programs department offers a wide range of options for seeing the world.
The 2019-2020 study abroad schedule currently has 19 different countries where students can study. This includes, but not limited to France, Thailand and South Africa.
According to Study Abroad Advisor Ken Nesbett, Kirkwood sends an “average of 165 students per academic year and over 30 faculty and staff to study abroad.”
Each trip has a different course of study and number of credits available depending on the length of course. By going to kirkwood.studioabroad.com students can look at a full itinerary of each program and the predicted cost to go.
This cost of the trip, however, does not include tuition. The reason for this, according to Nesbett, is “there are different tuition rates based on if you are out of state or in-state.”
Tuition is based on Kirkwood rates and not the rate at the place of study. For students who wish to go but are unsure if they can afford it there are scholarship options available.
There is the Global Advantage Scholarship and the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship. The Global Advantage Scholarship ranges from $1,000 to $2,000 depending on the program, according to the study abroad website.
To be eligible for it, students will need to have a 2.5 GPA, two electronic recommendations, one personal essay (completed during the application) and their study abroad application.
The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship offers up to $5,000 for students to study abroad. This is nationally competitive and will require a separate application to apply for it.
There are two deadlines to fill out this application. The Gilman scholarship requires two essays, each to be no more than 7,000 characters and the student needs to be Pell-eligible.
The first is a personal essay about the one applying and the second is a follow-on service project proposal.
The first deadline to apply is Tuesday, Oct. 1. In addition to scholarships, student Pell and loans can also be applied to the trip.
According to Nesbett, approximately 90% of students receive some form of Financial Aid. For more information, visit kirkwood.studioabroad.com or contact Ken Nesbett at ken.nesbett@kirkwood.edu.
Categories: Campus News, News
