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Frequently Asked Questions: Global Leaders Scholarship

Timing Need-based aid Merit-based aid Miscellaneous

When should I apply for financial aid/scholarships?
We recommend applying between the time you submit your preliminary application and your full application. We start reviewing applicants for the following calendar year each August (for example, we began reviewing students departing on programs in 2009 on August 1, 2008). If you are applying for a 2010 program, you may begin your AFS application now but you will need to wait to apply for a scholarship until August 2009.

Why do I have to submit my application within one month? I’m not sure I can commit so quickly.
We require your application within one month because this helps us tell which students are serious about moving forward and accepting their scholarship offers. Your AFS advisor and local AFS volunteer are available to talk with you and your parents if you have hesitations about committing to an AFS program so quickly.

What will happen if my preferred program choice(s) close before the one month scholarship deadline?
Based on the program(s) you’ve selected, it may be necessary to complete the application in less than a month in order to meet the program deadlines set by the AFS hosting partner. When you are notified of the scholarship award we will clearly indicate the deadline date. Click for further information on program closing dates.

What if I don’t complete my full application within the one-month window?
Your scholarship offer will expire, but we can re-evaluate you at any later date if you email scholarships@afs.org. However, the revised offer will likely be less because our scholarship funds decrease throughout the course of the year. If you are struggling to get the required form completed in time, please contact your AFS Advisor as soon as possible, 1-800-237-4636. One reminder email will be sent to student 7 days before expiration. One day after deadline, award and spot will be negated.

What if I have already completed my full application and I want to apply for a scholarship?
You can still go back and submit your scholarship application.


Need-based aid

How do you decide who gets a need-based scholarship?
AFS assumes that the family and candidate are responsible for educational costs to the greatest extent possible. Financial assistance is offered only as a supplement to the family resources when deemed necessary.

AFS partners with ISM-FAST who provide us with a report, which includes a recommendation of what a family should reasonably contribute toward tuition. All information from FAST is kept confidential. Applications are reviewed by the Financial Aid committee and once the committee has reached a unanimous decision, financial aid offers are sent to families.

Please note that the amount of aid requested each year exceeds our resources available, but we do help each qualified applicant to the greatest extent we can.

What is F.A.S.T./ISM?
Financial Aid for School Tuition is an online financial aid assessment tool provided by Independent School Management, which is independent of AFS-USA.

Why does AFS use FAST?
In order for us to allocate our resources wisely and fairly, we have enlisted the help of Independent School Management’s FAST (Financial Aid for School Tuition) program. ISM’s FAST does not decide whether financial assistance will be given or how much to give; rather FAST provides a need-based financial aid analysis service.

Why do I have to pay in order to be considered for financial aid?
This is a processing fee payable directly to ISM for their services in helping AFS analyze the complexities of each individual family’s financial situation. Your family can receive a fee waiver directly from AFS if you have extenuating financial circumstances.

Merit-based aid

How do you decide who gets a merit-based scholarship?
There are four categories in which students can demonstrate merit: AFS family, academic merit, community involvement, and intercultural involvement. The Scholarship Committee awards AFS family scholarships based on the information in your cover sheet, and we assess the other three categories based on the information submitted in your reference forms (you must score highly on these forms to qualify—simply submitting a reference form does not automatically give you merit credit in that category). A student can be credited for up to three merit categories.

Why is there not a lot of space on the reference form for comments?
We evaluate these references based primarily on which box is checked, and use the examples to provide context for the student’s achievement.

What if the person who is filling out the form wants to send an additional letter or additional comments?
Additional supplements to the set reference forms will not be considered in determining the award. We will only review and consider the information provided on the reference form.

Does the academic reference satisfy the requirements of the Letter of Recommendation on the AFS full application?
No, but if you like, you may ask your teacher to write this letter at the same time you hand her this nomination form. You could say something like “By the way, AFS also requires a Letter of Recommendation for the full application and I’d be honored if you’d be willing to write a letter about why I’d be a good candidate to study abroad. Maybe this reference process will trigger some ideas that could grow naturally into a letter.”

What happened to Awards for Excellence?
We’ve made changes to how we award merit-based scholarships, but they’re all in your favor. The main changes are: 1) you will be evaluated individually, 2) you’ll hear about your award amount sooner, and 3) you can find out your potential award amount before you complete the full application.


Miscellaneous

How likely am I to get financial aid?
Approximately 40 percent of the students who go on AFS programs receive some kind of aid.

How much money can I expect to receive through an AFS Global Leaders Scholarship?
Awards vary between 0-50 percent of the program fee. The amount of the award depends on the financial need and achievement in the merit areas, as well as the time of year that the student applies. There are no full scholarships available.

What if that’s not enough for my family to afford to send me abroad?
We encourage students to raise a portion of their own tuition. For fundraising ideas, you can work with your local AFS volunteers and check out the great ideas on our Fundraising page.

Can my scholarship be applied toward the $900 deposit?
No—we can consider you for a scholarship and give you a good idea how much you’ll receive before you put your $900 deposit down, but in order to actually have the scholarship amount credited toward your AFS program tuition, you must pay the deposit. Your Global Leaders scholarship is then applied to the remaining amount of your program tuition.

There used to be a long list of partial scholarships on the website. Are those still available?
Yes, and they are all within the Global Leaders Scholarship Program now, so you don’t have to specify which scholarships you are applying for. All scholarships outside of this process are listed on the main scholarships website.

What happens to my $900 deposit and Global Leaders award if I subsequently receive a full scholarship (such as Congress Bundestag)?
If you choose to accept that other scholarship, you get the $900 deposit back, and the Global Leaders scholarship goes back into the scholarship fund—you don’t get to combine the two scholarships.

Are there restrictions on students applying for as many scholarships as they want?
Students may combine local scholarships with Global Leaders. Students may apply for both Global Leaders and all other scholarships (Yoshi, Tanaka, SLI, Cargill, Ford-PAS, Congress Bundestag) but may only accept one or the other.

Is country flexibility required for both need and merit applicants?
Yes.

How does the Scholarship Committee select the two program options from the larger list the student submitted?
AFS distributes scholarship awards amongst all programs and attempts to reward open-mindedness in program choice.

What if I change my country choice later in the process?
Students that transfer to a new program/country will need to be re-evaluated for scholarships, since awards are made for specific countries/programs.

Is there a financial appeal process (if a family is not satisfied with the award they are given or if the family financial situation changes)?
Yes. Students must submit 1. A letter of explanation covering what they have already fundraised (or plans for fundraising) and any other information the family feels was not adequately represented on the FAST application 2. the completed budget worksheet (located in the “Financing your AFS experience” booklet) 3. any other information requested by the Scholarships Committee

EDUCATOR – How do I nominate my student for AFS now?
You are invited to nominate students for AFS programs using our Global Connections program. It is up to the student to determine whether or not he/she wishes to apply for scholarships. In addition, you can contribute to your student’s application by providing references as part of the Global Leaders merit-based scholarships.

Have a question not answered here? Please contact: scholarships@afs.org