Center for Global Education and Experience Scholarship Fund

Now more than ever, it is critical that today's college students learn to work successfully across difference, engage in meaningful conversations with people from a variety of backgrounds, and to learn from new perspectives. Not only are study abroad programs an amazing opportunity to accomplish these goals, but they also provide long-lasting impact beyond college. The benefits of study abroad are enormous, including increased intercultural competence, higher graduation rates and higher employment rates after college.*

For undergraduate students who balance school with work, family commitments, and other responsibilities, short-term programs  are the best way for them to participate in study abroad  Financial support from donors—in the form of a student scholarship fund—is critical to increasing access to global study opportunities. In particular, short-term programs led by Augsburg University’s faculty are advantageous for those students balancing multiple responsibilities. Scholarship funds raised from "Give to the Max Day 2017" will be given to Augsburg undergraduate students attending a short-term program at one of Augsburg CGEE’s Study Centers or other programs that have a social justice focus. The average cost of one program is $4,000. Our goal is to raise ten scholarships of $1,000 each, to help put a significant dent in the cost of a program for ten students. Examples of upcoming programs include:

• Indigenous Social Activism in Chiapas, Mexico
  

• Medical Spanish and Internship in Mexico

• Interfaith Engagement in Palestine and Israel

• Diversity and Inequality in Global Professional Practice in Thailand & Laos

Read student and faculty testimonials below:

"I totally enjoyed the program in Mexico [Food, Justice & Sustainability in Mexico, Spring 2017].  I loved the group of students I went with, the teachers that showed us around and took care of us and all the people that we were able to meet.  The trip taught me a lot about myself and about those that maybe don’t get attention in our news media or other stories.  I learned a lot of history and I learned things that I can use in my everyday life.  I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to go and for those that gave to make it so I could go." - Nikol Gordon, English as a Second Language, '18

"My experience teaching short term study abroad courses in El Salvador has changed me as a person and as an educator. As I person, I have gained first hand experience of the meaning of globalization and its impact on real people in El Salvador. I have also learned how people of faith respond to the situation of poverty, injustice, and violence in creative and life-affirming ways. As an educator, I have learned the power of experiential education. I have seen how differently and powerfully students learn by being immersed in a different culture, learning from both those in power positions in the society as well as those who exist on the margins. I have also seen how the learning students do does not just become an "experience" to file away in their many life experiences, but rather as a catalyst for continued action in the world."  Prof. Matt Maruggi, Department of Religion.