Accepting your Award

All applicants who are selected to receive a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship will receive an award letter by email and postal mail. In order to accept your Gilman Scholarship, please follow the instructions that were provided in the award letter. You must complete and submit all award documentation in order to receive your award check. Please reference the Timeline for Award Distribution for deadlines to submit your award documentation.

Once selected for the Gilman Scholarship, you can login to the online application system to submit and download your acceptance forms. You must login with the user name and password you created when your started your application.

If you do not remember your username and/or password to access your online account, you can either click the “Forgot my Password” link on the login page, or contact the Gilman Scholarship Program. If you have any questions regarding accepting your award or completing the Gilman award documentation, please review the Frequently Asked Questions or contact the Gilman Scholarship Program by emailing gilmanforms@iie.org or by phone 1-888-887-5939 x 28.

Frequently Asked Questions for Recipients

Q. By receiving a Gilman Scholarship, will that impact my university financial aid package?

A. It may. University Financial Aid offices have federal, state and institutional guidelines they must follow when awarding financial aid packages. The Gilman Scholarship Program has no control over this process though we encourage institutions to reduce loan amounts first if the receipt of this award does affect a student's financial aid package. For more information, please access the Financial Aid & Study Abroad: Basic Facts for Students.

Q. How do I use my Gilman Scholarship? What can I pay for with the Gilman Scholarship?

A. Gilman funds may only be used to cover eligible study abroad program costs and related expenses. These include: Program tuition and fees, room and board, books, local transportation, health insurance and international airfare on a U.S.-carrier. You are not allowed to use Gilman funds towards the purchase of a foreign carrier flight or towards personal expenses (i.e. shopping and entertainment).

Q. How will I receive the Gilman Scholarship award?

A. Once you have completed and submitted all your Gilman Scholarship award documentation, the Gilman Scholarship Program will notify you by email that your scholarship check has been requested and will be sent to you via U.S. postal mail. You will only receive one check in the full amount of your scholarship award for your awarded academic term abroad.

Q. Can the Gilman Scholarship check be directly deposited into my bank account or can it be made payable to my home institution or program provider?

A. No, unfortunately not. The Gilman Scholarship check can only be made payable to you. As a recipient of the Gilman Scholarship, it is your responsibility to appropriately utilize the Gilman funds awarded to you to pay for your eligible study abroad program costs (as mentioned above).

Q. What if I must depart for my study abroad program before I personally receive the Gilman Scholarship check by mail?

A. If you've realized, based on the Timeline for Award Distribution, that you will not be in the U.S. when the Gilman Scholarship check is sent to you, then you must make the arrangements with a family member or person you entrust to receive the check on your behalf and deposit it into your bank account. You will also have to make the proper arrangements with your bank. This will allow you to have safe access to your Gilman funds in order to properly pay for your study abroad program costs. You will be asked to provide a check mailing address as you complete your award documentation. Please make sure that is an accurate address to avoid delay receiving your scholarship check. Also, please make sure to inform the Gilman Scholarship Program of any change of address as soon as possible.

Q. Is there an insurance requirement for the Gilman Scholarship Program?

A. Yes, if you are selected as a scholarship recipient, you must furnish evidence of international insurance coverage, to include health, accident, emergency evacuation and repatriation of remains insurance. More information on the insurance requirement is provided in the Gilman award documentation's Terms and Conditions Contract.

Q. May I participate in an internship or work part-time while on a Gilman Scholarship?

A. The Gilman Scholarship Program is designed to support participation in a full-time study abroad program for undergraduate academic credit, not paid work abroad. However, applications were considered from students who proposed an internship as an integrated and meaningful component of their study abroad program. Also, students studying in countries which allow those on student visas to work part-time may do so as long as they maintain full-time enrollment in their study abroad program and are not in violation of any laws or regulations of their program or host country.