Summer Study Away

While Amherst does not grant credit nor award financial aid for summer study - whether in the U.S. or abroad - we encourage students to participate in summer programs. We have developed some resources to help you choose a program and find funding, if necessary. Amherst College fellowships are open to first, second and third year students; unfortunately graduating seniors are not eligible.

Amherst College Summer Study Abroad Fellowships

The Summer Study Abroad Fellowships allow students to study abroad in the summer for a minimum of six weeks. These highly selective fellowships fund a wide range of programs around the world: language and culture studies; research programs in STEM, humanities and social sciences; internship programs. Students can choose from any program on the summer program list. (You may apply to a program not on the list so long as it is recommended by expert faculty from Amherst.)

Some funds have specificity as to where students must travel; others are more open. Please see below for details on each of the funds.

• The Ouyang Family Summer Study Abroad Fund supports students on financial aid to study in China (roughly half of the funds) as well as any other country in the world.
• The Opperman Fund supports students to study Chinese language and culture. (The faculty in Asian Languages and Civilizations selects recipients for the Opperman Fund, but the application is the same as general summer study abroad fellowships.)
• The Huh Family Fund supports students interested in studying abroad in Korea with preference for those students who are not of Korean heritage, including students who were adopted from Korea but raised elsewhere and who do not have any connection to their Korean heritage.
• Roch-McKinstry Study Abroad Fund supports study abroad to any country in the world.
• William E. Ford III 1983 Fund supports study anywhere in the world, with preference for programs in Asia or Latin America.

After participation in the program, students are required to:

• Complete an evaluation of your experience for Amherst.
• Submit a letter of appreciation to the donor(s).
• Organize an event with the Global Education Office about your study abroad country and program.

Please note the following:

• Fellowships are for first-years, sophomores, and juniors only and all participants must be undergraduates for the duration of their program.
• It is possible that these awards will be taxable to the recipient(s) if s/he is a U.S. citizen, but the college is not required to report this payment and you should check with your tax accountant to see if taxes apply to your situation.
• Students applying to the Shoyu Club Japanese language study fellowship (which has a separate application) are not permitted to submit an application for any of these funds.
• Recipients are chosen by the faculty Committee on Global Education.

Applications must be completed online and are due Monday, February 17, 2020. The waiver and budget template to be uploaded to your application are below.

Amherst standard international waiver.pdf

Amherst standard international waiver.pdf

Budget_template_2019.docx

Budget_template_2019.docx

If you are not applying for one of the fellowships but considering study away by either financing it yourself or seeking aid from the program, please read on. Many of the program providers that have semester and year-long programs will also offer summer study options. In addition, there are other programs run by colleges exclusively in the summer. Since Amherst does not grant credit nor award financial aid for summer study, we do not have an approved list of programs but do recommend students look at the program list for suggestions. The large program providers all have summer study; a short list is below. Please note this is not exhaustive! There are many more programs you can find through www.studyabroad.com and IIEPassport.

International Programs

For international summer programs, please refer to the summer study abroad fellowships program list.

Domestic Programs

SEA Semester: Maritime Studies at Woods Hole and at Sea
Woods Hole Partnership Education Program: Marine and Environmental Studies at Woods Hole, MA
O'Neill Theater Institute

Domestic Language Programs

• Arizona State University Critical Languages Institute (Albanian, Armenian, Bosnian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Uzbek, Hebrew, Macedonian)
• Beloit College Summer Intensive Language Study (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian)
• Middlebury College Language Schools     (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish)
• Middlebury Institute Summer Intensive Language Program (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian Spanish)
• South Asia Summer Language Institute (Bengali, Hindi, Pashto, Sanskrit, Sinhala, Tamil, Tibetan, Urdu)
• Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies (Chinese)
• Johns Hopkins Summer Language Institute (Arabic, Chinese, Hindi-Urdu, Russian)

There are also many language schools overseas that offer short non-credit bearing courses.  These programs can range anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.  Program fees and services may vary; be sure to research each thoroughly to see if the school is appropriate for you.  Like all summer experiences, Amherst College does not  give credit for these types of schools, but a few suggestions are below.  It is your responsibility to evaluate the school and determine whether or not it meets your needs.

ARABIC

• Amideast Summer Arabic Language Schools
• Qasid Arabic Institute, Amman

CHINESE

• Beijing Language and Culture University Summer Programs  
• EF Education First

FRENCH

• French language programs in France as advertised on Campus France
• French language programs at private language schools
• EF Education First
• Centre International d'Etudes Françaises summer courses

GERMAN

• Goethe-Institut in Germany  
• DAAD Summer Language and Internship programs  
• EF Education First

ITALIAN

• EF Education First

RUSSIAN

• Arizona State University Critical Language Program

SPANISH IN SPAIN

• CLIC in Sevilla or Cadiz
• don Quixote Spanish Language Schools 
• EF Education First
• Colegio Hispano Continental, Salamanca, Spain
• Inhispania International Language Center 
• International House Language Schools   
• Mester, Salamanca Spain

SPANISH IN SOUTH AMERICA

• CIS Yucatan 
• Celas Maya, Guatemala
• don Quixote Spanish Language Schools
• Estudio Sampere 
• EF Study Spanish in South America

More language school suggestions around the world through Transitionsabroad.com, andother opportunities can be found in the study abroad library in the Loeb Center at the following websites:

• IIE Passport
• GoAbroad.com
• StudyAbroad.com

Many study abroad providers will have scholarship (merit- and need-based)  available for their summer programs. Check directly with the provider to find out if you qualify. For example:

• Associated Colleges in China (Hamilton College) offers Fulbright and Luce scholarships for summer study.
• Association for Asian Studies, for which Amherst is a member, has a wonderful resource page for study to Asia and study of Asian languages.
• HKU Crimson Summer Exchange brings western university students, Hong Kong University students, local and Mainland China secondary students for a summer cross-cultural education program. Fellowships cover tuition, room, board and partial airfare. 
• Middlebury College has 100 Kathryn Davis Fellowships for Peace to study critical languages.
• Organization of Tropical Studies, Duke University for advanced biology students: Research Experience for Undergraduates
• The School of Russian and Asian Studies has a listing of funding opportunities - including their own - for study to Russian-speaking countries.
• Columbia University's Office of Global Programs offers scholarships for their summer programs in China and Japan.
• The University of East Anglia in the UK has scholarships for summer study each year.
• The University of Auckland has scholarship opportunities for research from mid-December to January, which is "summer" in NZ.  These scholarships are available in many departments, from the university homepage choose a faculty (e.g. Faculty of Arts) and choose "Summer Research Scholarships" from the right-hand menu.
• Taiwan US Alliance Ambassador Summer Scholarship Program is an 8-week program for U.S. college students interested in learning Chinese and about Taiwanese culture.
• The Taiwan Scholarship Program offered by the Minsistry of Education in Taiwan provides grants that include tuition and a monthly stipend.
• Yunus Emre Foundation is a non-profit organization promoting Turkey, Turkish language, its history, culture, and art, as well as making related information and documents available for use in the world. The Yunus Emre Institute will cover the entire cost of the program, including airfare to and from Turkey and meals on the program, for recipients. More information: 

  YEEWDC Summer School Booklet 2018.pdf

  YEEWDC Summer School Booklet 2018
• Woods Hole Partnership in Education Program is a 4-week course and 6-10 week research project for students in the natural sciences, mathematics, or engineering. Scholarship covers tuition, room and board, and a stipend.

Other organizations are:

• Five Colleges, Inc. has two Charles Mack language scholarships, one for the Czech language to study in the Czech Republic and one to study any language taught at the Five College Center for World Languages.
• The DAAD organization has many fully and partially funded opportunities in Germany.
• For students interested in economics, environmental studies, real estate and property management, the FIABCI-USA, the U.S. chapter of the International Real Estate Federation, offers scholarships for educational programs in these disciplines in the U.S. or abroad.

There are also special scholarships offered through the U.S. government (for U.S. citizens):

• U.S. Critical Language Program - offers intensive study of targeted "critical languages" at determined summer institutes around the world.  Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
• Boren Scholarships - offer summer language study at a study abroad program of the applicant's choice, but students must be in the sciences, technology, and engineering.  Students from other disciplines should consider a Boren Scholarship for a semester or year.  Each scholarship requires a term of government service; applicants must be U.S. citizens.  See website for more details.
• Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship - provides awards for U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding.  Study abroad program to non-traditional areas is highly encouraged (e.g. to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East).  See website for more details.

Be sure to visit StudyAbroadFunding.org, StudyAbroad.com, MoneyGeek.com, and GoAbroad.com for more resources on funding your summer experience.