Scholarships for Studying Abroad
If one of your goals is to do a master’s degree abroad, you have most likely thought about the university you want to apply to, the different programs it offers, application dates, among others. All this may seem like honey on flakes until you get to the subject of money, and doubts begin to invade you like “will I have enough money to fulfill my goal?” Don’t worry, fortunately, there are different types of scholarships offered for Spanish speakers who want to study abroad.
First of all, you must be very clear that there are different types of scholarships and, that is why they all have different characteristics. Here we will briefly explain the types of scholarships according to the organization that grants them and some general characteristics.
As a requirement to award the scholarship, some universities ask you to maintain a certain average, others do not. However, there is usually no information available to the public about their existence and you only find out about them until you submit your application, they accept it and they offer it to you. This usually happens because the offer of scholarships has to do with internal criteria that are not necessarily disclosed.
There are also scholarships offered by government agencies, whether national or international. Generally, this aid has more restrictions than those offered by universities, such as: that you must return to your country of origin at the end of postgraduate studies in order to contribute to your nation.
Likewise, there are supports that are offered by companies for their employees. Therefore, if you find yourself working in a large company, it never hurts to talk to Human Resources to see if they have this type of support for their workers.
In addition to all the aforementioned options, you can be a candidate for scholarships if you belong to a specific population. To mention a few: people from the LGBTTTIQ community, people who have some kind of disability, racial minorities, religious minorities, among others. So if you belong to any of these groups, you can search directly in those populations for which scholarships you could apply.
Finally, educational financing should not be set aside. These are credits with an accessible interest rate and many universities have different options that they can offer you if they accept you.
Now that you know about the different types of scholarships, we can talk about the best known. It should be noted that they all have different application dates and requirements that you must take into account when applying.
Fulbright Scholarship Program
This program offers a partial scholarship for those students interested in studying for a graduate degree in the United States. The benefits it provides are a monthly stipend for living expenses and medical insurance for up to a maximum of 2 years. This call is open to all disciplines, except areas of medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine. Some of the requirements are to have a minimum average of 8 in the most recent complete grade, present current GRE results with a minimum score of 152 in one of the sections according to the applicant’s area of interest and present a minimum score of 550 in TOEFL ITP, 80 on TOEFL IBT, or 6.5 on IELTS.
World Bank Scholarship
The Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ / WBGSP) is open to applicants with relevant professional experience and history of supporting their countries’ development efforts and who are applying to a master’s program in a related subject. Some of the benefits of the scholarship are air travel between your home country and the destination university at the beginning of the study program and immediately after the end of the scholarship, the tuition for the chosen graduate program, the cost of basic medical insurance earned through college and a stipend to cover living expenses.While some of the requirements that are asked are, be a citizen of a developing country member of the World Bank, have a bachelor’s degree and 3 years or more of work experience related to development.
Forté MBA Fellowships
This program was founded with the intention of increasing the number of women applying for and enrolling in MBA programs through the offering of scholarships. In addition to the financial benefits the scholarship offers, there is immediate exposure to leading companies in the Forté network. To be considered for this scholarship, an MBA application must first be submitted to a participating school. It should be noted that, for this scholarship, the participating school selects its scholarship recipients and notifies Forté of their choice. Candidates for this scholarship are expected to show academic, team, community, and / or creative leadership, as well as commitment to women and girls through community involvement.
Fund for the Development of Human Resources (FIDERH)
FIDERH is a federal trust administered by Banco de México with the objective of financing postgraduate studies for Mexican students. In this program, students receive the amount authorized to pay their tuition, maintenance or medical insurance in quarterly, semester or annual periods. The financing is covered in Mexican pesos in 40 quarterly payments (10 years) and the interest rate is 0.75 of the Average Percentage Cost published by Banco de México on a monthly basis. On the other hand, some of the requirements for financing are to be Mexican, have a maximum of 40 years, have a bachelor’s degree with a minimum average of 8.0 and a letter of acceptance to the institution where the studies will be carried out.
Nuffic Neso
Nuffic is the Dutch organization for the internalization of education. In cooperation with the Royal Netherlands Embassy it was established to provide comprehensive and objective information about Dutch higher education. It is important to note that higher education in the Netherlands, being subsidized by the state, offers relatively low enrollment. There are also different scholarships and financing options to which you can have access when studying in this region. On its page you can find different scholarship options if you are from Latin America.
Chevening Scholaships
This program enables its fellows to obtain a master’s degree in the UK. The benefits included in this scholarship are flights, accommodation, and course fees so that the student can focus on achieving their personal goals and maximizing their experience. Some of the requirements that are requested are to have a minimum of 2 years of work experience, have a university degree at the time of application, have applied to 3 different eligible universities in the United Kingdom and have been accepted.
OAS Academic Scholarship Program
The scholarships awarded by this program are complementary in nature, so you will have to obtain additional funds to be able to pursue your studies since they do not cover all the expenses of the scholarship holder. The scholarships have a monetary maximum of 10,000 USD per academic year and cover tuition and administrative expenses, health insurance, supplementary monthly subsistence contribution, among others. The requirements are to be a citizen or resident of any of the OAS Member States, be competent in the language of the program and country of study, have obtained a first university degree, have a higher than general average, and be in good health. physical and mental.
Colfuturo
Colfuturo has a Scholarship Credit program available for students of Colombian nationality. Speaking of credit, students can request 50,000 USD to be distributed between 9 and 24 months, for which you would be acquiring a loan in US dollars. However, if the student returns to Colombia and stays in the country for 3 years, they can obtain a certain percentage of forgiveness. Some of the requirements are to have a minimum of an undergraduate degree and to master a second language.
As you can see, there are many options for scholarships and financing to carry out your studies abroad, and these are only the best known! The most important thing when making these types of decisions is that you choose, to begin with, the postgraduate degree that will lead you to your professional fulfillment. Once the program has been chosen, apply to the scholarships that best suit your needs, remembering that, generally, both a scholarship and a loan, by themselves, will not cover all expenses, but a combination of several can cover most or all the expenses.