Scholarship Programs for Guatemala

Pure Central America

Guatemala is a beautiful country in Central America filled with black sands and numerous volcanoes. It’s a country filled with many rainforests, coastlines, mountains and incredible wildlife. There are even ancient Mayan ruins and indigenous peoples located throughout the country. Many go to Guatemala to study different subjects such as culture and language, archaeology, and environmental studies.

Traveling and participating in varied types of study abroad programs can be costly. Luckily, there are ways in which students can receive funding.

Government Funding

One way to get money to study abroad is to apply for government sponsored scholarships. One program called the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program aims to give students with financial need the opportunity to study abroad. This program focuses on sending students to areas which are largely under-represented in other study abroad programs. Areas outside of Australia and New Zealand, and Western Europe are encouraged. Students must already be receiving Federal Pell Grants at any two-year or four-year college or university to be eligible. Each year there are over 2,300 of these scholarships awarded. The maximum amount a student can receive is $5,000 with the average amount being around $4,000.

The Institute of International Education is one of the premier organizations when it comes to international exchange programs. Their flagship program is the Fulbright Program. This allows students, teachers, and other professionals engage in research projects, graduate study, and teaching in schools around the globe. Their student program gives participants the chance to meet, live, work, and learn from those in the host country. This scholarship pays for travel costs, room and board, and incidental costs. In some countries it even covers tuition and book allowances.

College Scholarships

The Department of Latin American and Iberian Studies at the University of Richmond offers the Don Quixote Scholarships. This is a merit-based award to students wishing to study specifically in one of the Central or South American countries- including Guatemala- for an academic year. Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 to apply. The awarded amount is $3,000.

Private Scholarships

The Rainforest Alliance is a world leader in Rain Forest conservation. They work to conserve rainforests all over the world by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. The Rainforest Alliance achieves this by educating farmers, forest managers, and tourism businesses on how they can make profits without destroying their forests by prolonging the lives of their ecosystems.

Rainforest Alliance offers the Kleinhans Fellowship for Research in Tropical Non-Timber Forest Products. Started in 1989 this scholarship provides funding for fellows to find more efficient ways to manage and use tropical forest resources while still preserving the life of the ecosystem. This fellowship is for $16,000 per year, for two years.

The Rotary Foundation is an organization dedicated to serving communities all over the world. They have over 34,000 branches worldwide where members volunteer in the places they live. Their international branch promotes world understanding and peace. Members can choose to be a part of international programs by volunteering at an international project site or by sponsoring a project in another country. For those who want to volunteer internationally but lack the funds, the Rotary Foundation offers Global grants. To be eligible, an activity must be sustainable and measurable  There are three areas of concern:

1. How does the project help the community after volunteers have left?
2. How will scholar’s studies promote the Rotary Foundation’s principals?
3. How will a vocational training team project further the team and the community?

If the project meets this criteria then up to $30,000 in financing can be provided.