THE BASICS   

Overview

Boren Scholarships offer financial support for U.S. undergraduates to study abroad. We award scholarships of up to $20,000 for study of world regions critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America & the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Only the countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded.

The major sections of this site (you're at The Basics) are displayed at your left. Details of each section are provided by selecting the tabs at right, such as Am I eligible?

National security, Language and culture

We focus on geographic areas, languages and fields of study seen as critical to U.S. national security. We draw on a broad definition of national security, including military, political, environmental and social concerns.

Boren Scholarships are intended to provide support to students who study languages and cultures currently underrepresented in study abroad. Most often, they plan to take part in an organized study abroad experience. Study of a foreign language is an integral part of every Boren proposal.

More information about languages, countries, fields of study, and length of study is available in the section What & where can I study?, which also introduces you to our focus on U.S. national security.

SerVice Requirement

The service requirement states that an award recipient work in the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State or the Intelligence Community. Under some circumstances, an award recipient may work in any U.S. federal department or agency with national security responsibilities. For an introduction to the service requirement, please see Am I willing to do public service? You'll also see that preference for Boren Scholarships is given to students planning a career in federal service.

Current Boren Scholars

Share the experiences of the current group of Boren Scholars by visiting the “dispatches” section of worldstudy.gov. You can also download a list, in PDF form, of the 2006-7 Boren Scholarship recipients, which indicates the countries they're traveling to and the languages they're studying.

Consult Your Campus Representative

Your campus representative can help you determine if a Boren Scholarship is right for you, and will work with you through the process if you decide to apply. Your school's study abroad office can help you find the campus representative on your campus. If they can't, contact us.

If you are confident the Boren Scholarship is right for you, and you are eager to get started, click on Shape Your Plan in the left-hand navigation! Print out a fact sheet (pdf) that summarizes the Boren requirements and opportunities.