Call for Applications: 2015 Global Undergraduate Exchange Scholarship Program (19/01/2015)

Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Global UGRAD provides scholarships for one semester (approximately five months), enabling undergraduate students to study in a non-degree program at U.S. universities.  The goal of the program is to provide a diverse group of emerging student leaders with a substantive exchange experience at a U.S. college or university.

For the academic year 2015-16, the program will place approximately 250 outstanding undergraduate students from East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, the Near East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western Hemisphere for non-degree, full time study at U.S. colleges and universities, starting in August 2015 or January 2016.  In addition, participants who do not meet host institution language requirements will be eligible for two to four weeks of intensive English language instruction in the United States prior to the start of the academic portion of their program.  Pre-academic English will take place in the fall semester of 2015-2016; the academic portion will commence for all students in the spring semester.  Vietnam can nominate up to 8 candidates for this program. 

All Global UGRAD participants will be enrolled full-time in undergraduate course work chosen from the host institution’s existing curriculum to allow them ample opportunity to interact with U.S. faculty and student peers, and for exposure to U.S. academic and classroom culture.  To ensure that students succeed in their new academic environments, host institutions will offer tailored instruction on topics including academic research and writing, critical thinking, time management, note-taking, and studying for and taking tests.  Participants will live in university housing on-campus.  Scholarships are available in all academic fields of study. 

Students will be required to participate in a minimum of twenty hours of community service activities during the program. 

Students cannot choose their host institution, and will be placed at the most appropriate host institution based on students’ academic interests.  This is a non-degree program, so it is the students’ responsibility to check with their home institutions whether any credits accumulated during the UGRAD program will be transferred. 

Participants in this program must return to Vietnam upon completion of the program and may not stay on for degree study in the United States at that time.

Candidate Qualifications

Competition will be based on the potential of the candidates to become student leaders through academic performance, community involvement, and extracurricular activities, without regard to their field of study, race, religion, or gender.  Competition is open to all applicants who:

• Are currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program in Vietnam;
• Will have completed their first year of undergraduate study by August 2015;
• Have at least one remaining semester to complete at their universities in Vietnam upon the completion of the program in the United States;
• Have a good knowledge of English;
• Achieve at least 7.5 GPA in the previous semester; and
• Demonstrate strong leadership qualities through academic performance, community involvement, and extracurricular activities.

How to apply?

To apply online, please click here to create an account and start your application for the program.  Deadline for online submissions: 5:00 PM, Friday, February 27, 2015.  Applications submitted via e-mail, or in hard copy will not be considered.

Also, please visit the program website at UGRAD website  for full program description, program eligibility, a link to the online application and a great video of current UGRAD students in the U.S.

Applicants studying at a university in northern Vietnam (from Quang Tri Province to the north) can send any questions regarding the program to:

The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program

Applicants studying at a university in southern Vietnam (from Thua Thien-Hue Province to the south) can send any questions regarding the program, to:

The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program

Deadline for online submissions: 5:00 PM, Friday, February 27, 2015. Applications submitted after this deadline will not be considered.

SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THEIR AWARDS BY MAY/JUNE 2015.​