Funding exists.
This isn't a line for your resume. It's the kind of experience that changes how you see your major, your hometown, even yourself. The Global Education Center's job is to make that affordable and findable, whether your program runs two weeks or a full year. What follows is the practical part: what each scholarship actually requires, and how to get there.
For All Global Education
Who Can Apply
Any student who has applied for a credit-bearing study abroad, internship abroad, or service-learning abroad program and can demonstrate financial need.
What We Look For
Need, shown plainly. Start with your university financial aid documentation. If it doesn't tell your full story, a supplemental statement goes to our staff for review. You'll also need to be in good academic standing.
Good to Know
Awards are sized to the actual gap between your resources and your program's cost, not a flat number, so amounts vary student to student. Apply here and you're automatically considered for the Weir-Jones Global Education Scholarship too. One application, two chances.
Who Can Apply
Any student pursuing an approved education abroad experience. Financial circumstances play no role.
What We Look For
Academic performance, a personal statement on what you hope to get from the experience, and your engagement here at Georgia College. Every applicant is read the same way, program to program, destination to destination.
Good to Know
Already applying for the Global Access Scholarship? You're automatically considered for this one too. No second application needed.
For Exchange & Immersion
Who Can Apply
Students in good academic standing who are planning a semester or academic-year exchange. Financial need is not a factor here.
What We Look For
Readiness. Your academic standing, your preparedness for an extended stretch away from Georgia College, and how closely your goals align with the program itself. A personal statement is required. Global Education Center staff review every application, joined by faculty or staff who know your academic program.
Good to Know
The commitment runs both ways. Continued good academic standing is required for funding to carry into a second term.
Global Education Scholarships:
A Comparison
| Global Learning Fellowship | Global Access Scholarship | Weir-Jones Global Education Scholarship | |
| Based on | Academic standing, readiness for an extended commitment, and alignment with the named scholarship's purpose | Demonstrated financial need | Merit, awarded need-blind |
| Best for | A semester- or year-long exchange | Any credit-bearing program, when cost is a barrier to going | Any credit-bearing program |
| Application | Separate application tied to the specific named scholarship | Inside your Study Abroad application | Inside your Study Abroad application |
| Deadline | Announced when that scholarship's cycle opens | October 1st (for Spring) February 1st (for Summer & Fall) | October 1st (for Spring) February 1st (for Summer & Fall) |
| Applying for one also considers you for | — | Weir-Jones Global Education Scholarship, automatically | — (apply separately for Global Access if you also want to be considered on financial need) |
Next Steps
Your Application Timeline
1. Choose and apply to a program.
Every scholarship on this page starts the same way: complete and submit your online GCSU Study Abroad program application for a credit-bearing study, internship, or service-learning abroad program. This comes first, always.
2. Apply for your scholarship.
One application inside your Study Abroad application covers both the Global Access Scholarship and the Weir-Jones Global Education Scholarship, due October 1 for Spring programs and February 1 for Summer and Fall programs. Global Learning Fellowships run on a separate application, tied to the specific named scholarship, announced when that cycle opens.
3. Committee review.
The committee meets shortly after each deadline: later in October for Spring, later in February for Summer and Fall.
4. Notification.
You'll hear from the Global Education Center once decisions for that cycle are made.
5. Funds applied to your program.
Awards go straight to your program costs: tuition, program fees, approved travel. Timed to when the bills are actually due. Never handed to you as cash.
6. While you're abroad.
Global Learning Fellows keep their good academic standing to carry funding into a second term. Across every award, if your plans change and you withdraw, or your costs come in lower than expected, the unused portion returns rather than staying in your pocket.
Financial Aid and Your Scholarships
These scholarships are built to add to your financial aid, not replace it. Most students keep the same state and federal aid they already receive while abroad, as long as they're enrolled through an approved Georgia College program, which the Study Abroad application already establishes.
HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships. Both can pay toward an approved program, but only while you remain enrolled through Georgia College, directly or through a non-Georgia College program approved for transient credit. Your award is calculated exactly as it would be on campus, based on eligible credit hours for the term. Studying abroad doesn't pause your continuing eligibility requirements: the same GPA benchmarks, the same lifetime credit-hour and eligibility-window limits still apply. Check your current status any time through your GAfutures.org account.
Federal aid (Pell Grants, Direct Loans). Federal aid runs off your Cost of Attendance, which Georgia College can build your approved program's tuition, fees, and related costs into for the term you're abroad. As with HOPE and Zell Miller, you generally need to remain enrolled through Georgia College, directly or through an approved exchange or consortium arrangement. FAFSA on file, program approved: nothing further required for federal aid to carry over.
Combining aid. These scholarships supplement what you already have. Most students combine them with HOPE, Zell Miller, and federal aid without any trouble. Federal rules cap total aid, from every source, at your total Cost of Attendance for the term. Push past that cap, and your overall package gets adjusted. No single award gets canceled to fix it.
Can I apply for more than one of these scholarships?
Yes. Global Learning Fellowships have their own separate application. For Global Access and Weir-Jones, one application covers both: applying for Global Access automatically considers you for Weir-Jones as well.
What's the difference between the Global Access Scholarship and the Weir-Jones Global Education Scholarship?
Global Access is need-based. Your financial circumstances are the main factor. Weir-Jones is merit-based and need-blind. Your financial situation plays no role at all.
Do I need to already be accepted into a program to apply?
Complete and submit your online GCSU Study Abroad program application first, before applying for Global Access or Weir-Jones. Global Learning Fellows applicants should be applying in connection with a specific exchange program.
When will I be notified?
Shortly after each deadline: later in October for Spring programs, later in February for Summer and Fall.