Belarus Education Scholarships
Get Paid to Study Overseas
Oh, another one of those former Soviet, Eastern Bloc countries struggling to carve out a niche in the capitalist dynasty. But, wait: Belarus is like a salmon swimming upstream. This headstrong country has gone against the contemporary current of its brethren in nearly all aspects and is now on course for a political reunion with Russia, which it only cut ties with in the early 1990s. Old habits die hard, and while close neighbors Lithuania, Poland and Latvia have earned accolades for their fresh-faced policies and economic democratization, Belarus is criticized for its persistent Soviet-like ways. This blatant, go-against-the-grain attitude is attractive to many, and perhaps it is this characteristic that beckons you to study in the country.
Government Scholarships
You may always count on the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program when it comes to non-traditional study abroad programs. Unless the country is seriously off-limits, the federal government is willing to fund your program if you qualify. Depending on funding, there may be anywhere from a few hundred to many hundreds of scholarships available, but the competition is fierce. The program accepts those undergraduates who are already Pell Grant recipients and especially those who hail from populations underrepresented in study abroad programs. Let’s face it traditional international collegiate study programs have catered to white, upper middle class students. Gilman Scholars stand to earn up to $7,000 for a year of study in Belarus or a multitude of other countries that fall outside the old stand-bys.
David L. Boren Scholarships are specially designed to cover students whose interests lie in high-interest areas, such as former-Soviet countries like Belarus. Applicants may be pursuing language and culture programs or other eligible curricula such as law, education, business, technology and the sciences. Boren Scholars are chosen from both undergraduate and graduate applicants and are expected to return the funding favor with a term of service with the U.S. government after graduation, even better for those whose career goal is national security for you are the poster children for the National Security Education Program. Boren Scholars may win up to $25,000 for a year of study in Belarus.
Fulbright Scholarships are often given more freely to those applicants who engage in programs that are not highly trafficked, like those in Belarus and other Eastern European nations. Fulbright awards are handed out to academically talented candidates trekking off to compelling and engaging study abroad programs all over the globe. And these are the criteria for acceptance to a program of study in Belarus. If you are seriously interested in trying for a Fulbright, contact your college study abroad coordinator for Fulbright applications. Also, you must be finishing your senior year and planning on a graduate stint of study, or heading into a doctoral program. Funding for the Fulbrights varies from partial awards to everything-but-the-kitchen-sink in monetary support.
Private Funding
The American Councils for International Education is an international organization funded by any number of agencies acting on the Title VIII program that mandates funding for scholars and advanced students who are pursuing relevant projects and programs in the Eastern European, Eurasian region. Scholarships and fellowships available for Belarus include:
- Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Program funds up to an academic year in Belarus for graduate and post-graduate students that also need to learn the language. Awards cover all costs, plus stipend.
- Title VIII Research Scholar Program is just like the above without the additional funding for language courses. Still, applicants must be studying for a partial or full academic year in Belarus.
The International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) is an internationally recognized organization whose core mission is development of sustainable systems of international communication that provide positive reinforcement for collegial collaboration. To these ends IREX administers a number of advanced and well-funded fellowship and scholarship programs that put U.S. scholars in close contact with their Eastern European colleagues. Preference is given to those whose research is “policy relevant:”
- Individual Advanced Research Opportunities program offers fellowships for post-graduate and post-doctoral candidates whose research proposals include study abroad in Belarus or any of a dozen of other countries in the region. Fellowships cover transportation, living costs, expense stipend and any tuition costs associated with the term.
- IREX Short Term Travel Fellowships provide eligible scholars with up to $5,000 for a few months of research time in Belarus or another Eastern European country. Eligible applicants must have a highly defined plan that can clearly be carried out in the time allotted and focused on IREX ideals.
