Why not just increase funding for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program?
Direct scholarships alone are not going to be enough to accomplish the objectives of the program. Existing programs, such as the Gilman program, are valuable, but direct scholarships alone will not get study abroad to the point where it becomes a cornerstone of higher education. What is needed is a program that will: encourage study abroad to become a core part of campus internationalization; get more students into the study abroad office; and help the broadest spectrum of students to study abroad. Gilman’s program model simply cannot accommodate these needs as it has a limited capacity of how many students can participate, and the model is not structured to address important institutional factors. Moreover, its authorizing legislation does not include the goals and ambitious objectives of the Simon program.
