Latin American Caribbean Scholarship
The Florida Statutes include a provision that allows students from certain countries, who receive a qualifying State of Florida or U.S. federal government scholarship, to be classified as Florida residents for tuition purposes. At Florida State University, there is no process through which a student can apply for an LAC scholarship. Instead, individual academic departments make qualifying awards, when available, and provide required documentation of the qualifying State of Florida or U.S. federal government award to FSU’s Student Business Services. More information about this process is here.
Southern Scholarship Foundation
The Southern Scholarship Foundation is a cooperative/communal living environment, where residents take turns cooking, cleaning, doing chores, and running their house as a team. Students qualify for placement in a Southern Scholarship House by demonstrating financial need, good character, motivation to live in the cooperative environment, and acceptance to FSU. Students pay approximately $950 per semester to cover food and utilities for the house, thus significantly reducing each student's living expenses. As long as a student continues to demonstrate significant financial need, maintain the required GPA, abide by the house rules (observing quiet study hours, no smoking, alcohol, or drugs and no visitation after hours), be positive, and live cooperatively within the house, the scholarship is renewable. For more information and to apply, visit http://www.southernscholarship.org.
Rowe Loan Fund
The Rowe Fund is an educational loan program of the Organization of American States (OAS) that helps citizens from Latin America and Caribbean OAS Member States finance their studies or research in accredited universities across the United States by awarding interest-free loans of up to $15,000 dollars.
Fulbright Scholarship
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright awards are for graduate study and research (there are typically no undergraduate awards). The scholarship offerings vary significantly by country each year and may or may not be offered every year. Students will need to prepare for the Fulbright application approximately two years before their intended date of admission to a U.S. university by scheduling required tests and gathering necessary documentation. Country-specific information regarding Fulbright scholarships can be found here: https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/fulbright-foreign-student-program.
Scholarship Search Sites
Beware of scholarship search scams. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cautions students to look and listen for these indicators of a scam:
- The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back."
- "You can't get this information anywhere else."
- "I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship."
- "We'll do all the work. You just pay a processing fee."
- "The scholarship will cost some money."
- "You've been selected" by a "national foundation" to receive a scholarship – or "You're a finalist" in a contest you never entered.
More information regarding avoiding scams is at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0082-scholarship-and-financial-aid-scams
Finding appropriate scholarships takes time and careful advance planning, and there are very limited resources available for international students. Here are a few free sites that may help you begin your search for information:
