CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Twelve University of Illinois undergraduates have been awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to study abroad in the spring semester. The number puts the campus in the top five nationally for Gilman scholarships for spring 2019.
“We’ll have students from four different colleges representing their school across five continents as Gilman Scholars,” said David Schug, the director of the University of Illinois National and International Scholarships Program. Nearly 30 percent of U. of I. students who applied won the award this term, he said.
The recipients listed by hometowns in Illinois, their programs and destinations include:
CARPENTERSVILLE – Mimi Quinn, sophomore in Spanish, Costa Rica
CHICAGO – Amber Sims, junior in landscape architecture, United Kingdom; Anna Korol, junior in graphic design, Denmark and Netherlands; Holly Situ, senior in advertising, Hong Kong; Keshonda Johnson, senior in elementary education, France; Lateefat Kofo Sulaiman, senior in industrial design, United Kingdom
EVANSTON – Ashli Drummond, junior in global studies, Senegal
LAKE VILLA – Isabella Fuentes, junior in political science, Tajikistan
LEMONT – Paulina Cygan, senior in molecular and cellular biology, Spain
MUNDELEIN – Carmen Gutierrez, sophomore in history, Italy
PEOTONE – Jenna Goeke, junior in communication, Australia
SULLIVAN – Paisley Ann Meyer, senior in global studies, Austria
The Gilman Scholarship Program, named for the late U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, of New York, is funded by Congress and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. It provides grants of between $2,500 and $5,000 to students with limited financial means with the aim of diversifying the kinds of U.S. students studying and interning abroad. To be eligible, students must be federal Pell Grant recipients.
The program also aims to diversify the destinations to which U.S. students travel for academic studies abroad.
Scholarship recipients also may be eligible for an additional Critical Need Language Award if they are studying critical need languages such as Arabic, Russian or Swahili, which can bring their total grant to as high as $8,000.
Gilman served in the House of Representatives for 30 years and chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee, and in those roles frequently underscored the value of study abroad for U.S. college students.
University of Illinois students receive assistance on their Gilman applications from the Office of Student Financial Aid, Illinois Abroad and Global Exchange, and the National and International Scholarships Program. Applications for study abroad in summer 2019, fall 2019 or the 2019-20 academic year are due March 5.