NSEP Boren Undergraduate Scholarships
NSEP Boren Scholarships provide up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are excluded.
Boren Scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. Applicants should identify how their study abroad program, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security, broadly defined. NSEP draws on a broad definition of national security, recognizing that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness.
Boren Scholarships provide American undergraduate students with the resources and encouragement they need to acquire skills and experiences in areas of the world critical to the future security of our nation, in exchange for their commitment to seek work in the federal government.
Boren Scholarships are for undergraduate students. You are eligible to apply for the Boren Scholarship if you are:
- A U.S. citizen at the time of application
- A high school graduate, or have earned a GED, and are matriculated in an undergraduate degree program in a U.S. post-secondary institution, including universities, colleges and community colleges accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
- Applying to engage in a study abroad experience in a country outside of Western Europe, Canada, Australia or New Zealand that meets home institution standards
- Planning to use the scholarship for study abroad and the study abroad program ends before you graduate; Boren Scholarships are not for study in the United States
Maximum scholarship awards are $8,000 for a summer program (special initiative for STEM students only; 8 weeks minimum), $10,000 for a semester and $20,000 for a full academic year.
The application deadline for the Boren Scholarships is February 9th. Please see your campus representative for your earlier on-campus deadline. For more information about the application process, please visit the Boren Awards website.