The Boren Undergraduate Scholarship Program provides up to $20,000 for US undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to US 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.
Most languages are supported, except those of Western Europe. 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. Receipt of this scholarship does incur a government service requirement, which for many students provides a valuable foot in the federal employment door.
Boren Graduate Fellowship details are at http://borenawards.org/boren_fellowship. There is no Boren campus application process at the graduate level; the national deadline for the Boren Graduate Fellowship is January 31, 2013. Helene Obradovich in the Graduate School Office of Fellowships & Awards is the point of contact for graduate students interested in this program (helene@uw.edu).
