Student earns scholarships to study Arabic in Jordan

Bryce Saunders of Boardman, a junior Political Science major at Youngstown State University, has received $13,000 in scholarships to study abroad in Jordan.

Saunders, who is minoring in Geography at YSU, received an $8,000 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Critical Need Language Award. The funding is awarded to students studying a critical need language – languages deemed critical for U.S. national security and economic opportunity. Saunders will study Arabic while in Jordan.

In addition, he has received $4,000 from the Council on International Educational Exchange, and $1,000 from the YSU College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences for the study abroad trip.

Saunders leaves for Jordan in January and will return in May.

The Gilman International Scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program offers grants for U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies or credit-bearing, career-oriented internships abroad. Such international exchange is intended to better prepare U.S. students to thrive in the global economy and interdependent world.

The program is administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The full list of students who have been selected to receive Gilman Scholarships, including students’ home state, university and host country, is available at www.iie.org/gilman.