Scholarships
Contact the Director of International Studies, Jennifer Thomas-Starck, at the Study Abroad Office or visit the Office of International Studies' website for more information on Scholarships.
General
Mayling Soong Foundation
What: The Mayling Soong Foundation of Wellesley College has limited funding to support students who undertake summer language study at approved programs in East and South Asia. Deadline falls early in the spring semester. See the website for further information, deadlines, and application forms.
Application due: March 10, 2024.
Freeman-ASIA Scholarships
What: The Freeman-ASIA Scholarship provides funding to undergraduate students who wish to spend a summer session, semester, or year abroad in East or Southeast Asia. For full elligibility requirements, applications, and more information, please visit their website.
Critical Language Scholarship
What: The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a fully-funded eight-week overseas language and cultural immersion program for American undergraduate and graduate students. With the goal of broadening the base of Americans studying and mastering critical languages and building relationships between the people of the United States and other countries, CLS provides study opportunities to a diverse range of students from across the United States at every level of language learning. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and must be enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate program in the fall semester before the program begins.
Eligibility: Applications must be U.S. citizens and enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate program the fall semester before. The Japanese program requires two academic years of study. For additional requirements see here.
Awards: Program is fully-funded by the Department of State
Contact: American Councils for International Education, 1828 L Street N.W., Suite 1200, Washington, D.C. 20036; Phone: (202) 833-7522; for email information please visit their website.
Application due: Mid-November of the preceding academic year
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
What: The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program offers grants for U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies or credit-bearing, career-oriented internships abroad. The student must be a U.S. citizen who receives a Federal Pell Grant; she must have applied to or been accepted to a credit-bearing study abroad program; and she must spend at least four weeks in one country with the exception of Cuba or those listed on the U.S. Department of State’s Travel Warning list.
Awards of up to $5,000 for academic year
. See website for details.
Eligibility: Open to all U.S. citizen undergraduates who receive a Federal Pell Grant, applying to or has been accepted by a study abroad program for which they may receive credit at the student’s institution of higher education, studying abroad for at least four weeks in one country, and is studying abroad in a country other than Cuba or those listed on the U.S. Department of State’s Travel Warning list.
Awards: Up to $5,000 for academic year
Contact: Gilman Scholarship Program, Institute of International Education, 1800 West Loop South, Ste-250, Houston, TX 77027; for email information please visit their website.
Application due: (for students) March 2, 2021; (for advisors) March 9, 2021
Japan
Bridging Scholarships
What: The Association of Teachers of Japanese Bridging Project accepts applications from American students participating in study abroad programs in Japan. Funding from private foundations and major US corporations has made it possible for ATJ to award up to 30 scholarships to assist students with the travel and living expenses they will incur while studying abroad in Japan.
Eligibility: Undergraduate students majoring in any field of study. Japanese language study is not a prerequisite. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and be enrolled in a college or university in the U.S.
Award: $2,500 Stipend for students on semester programs, and $4,000 Stipend for students on academic year programs. Students attending programs at four-year Japanese universities may also be eligible for a supplementary monthly stipend from the Japanese government through the Association for International Education, Japan (AIEJ).
Contact: Bridging Project Clearinghouse, Association of Teachers of Japanese, Campus Box 279, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 803309-0279; Tel: 303.492.5487, Fax: (303) 492.5856, Email: atj@colorado.edu
Application due: April 16, 2021
Monbukagakusho Scholarships
What: The Monbukagakusho (MEXT) scholarship is offered by the Japanese government. The award is designed for undergraduate students who are specializing in Japanese language or culture and who wish to pursue their studies in Japan. The term of stay is one academic year, beginning in September or October and ending the following year. All applicants are required to take a Japanese language examination and complete an interview.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, between the ages of 17 and 21, and must be undergraduate students studying Japanese language or culture at an institution outside of Japan.
Eligibility: Applicants must be U.S. citizens, between the ages of 17 and 21, and must be undergraduate students studying Japanese language or culture at an institution outside of Japan. Applicants should have knowledge of the Japanese language. See the website for further guidelines and eligibility requirements.
Award: Grant includes round trip airfare, exemption from all school fees, housing, and a stipend of 117,000 yen per month.
Contact: Consulate General of Japan, Federal Reserve Plaza, 14th floor, 600 Atlanta Ave., Boston, MA 02210; Tel: 617.973.9772, Fax: 617.542.1329
Application due: Early August of the preceding academic year
For additional funding possibilities, please consult the databases listed below:
Student Prizes
The E. Tu Chinese Writing Prize
Established by Elizabth T Hoffman, Class of 1976, in honor of Helen T. Lin's teaching and influence in her life. This prize, which reqards excellence in achievement in Chinese language learning as exemplified in a written and taped essay, is given to encourage Wellesley students to further their Chinese language training and pursue their interest in China.
The Japanese Essay Prize
Awarded to two students per year for the best translation or essay in Japanese. An award to celebrate the best translation into English or Japanese fiction or poetry or the best essay written in the Japanese language.
Postgraduate Fellowships
For a complete list of fellowship and scholarship opportunities, please visit the Fellowships & Scholarships page from Wellesley Career Education.
Blakemore Freeman Fellowships
Blakemore Freeman Fellowships fund an academic year of advanced language study abroad of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and selected Southeast Asian languages. Applicants must have at a minimum a bachelor's degree, and must have completed the equivalent of the third year of language classes at the college level (taken through classes in college or in combination with study abroad language programs). More information can be found on the Blakemore Foundation's website.
Elizabeth Luce Moore '24 Wellesley-Yenching Fellowship at Ginling College in Nanjing
Open to rising seniors and alumnae. Two students will be chosen for year-long English teaching fellowships in cooperation with Ginling College, part of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China. Chinese competency or background in Asian Studies is not required.
Wellesley-Yenching Fellowship at Chung Chi College in Hong Kong
Open to rising seniors and alumnae. The Wellesley-Yenching Program in cooperation with Chung Chi College in Hong Kong sponsors a fellowship to teach or assist in teaching English at Chung Chi. This one-year fellowship is generally offered on an annual basis to a Wellesley College senior or alumna with the option to extend fora second year.
Application due: February 15, 2021
Wellesley-Yenching Fellowship at the National Palace Museum in Taipei
One full-year, full-time position is available to Wellesley College graduates. Fellowship recipients work at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, with work being related to translation (Chinese to English), gallery tours, and other jobs related to staff activities at the museum.
Application due: February 15, 2021