Finances are a massive barrier to studying abroad, yet many students don’t apply for scholarships. What are the barriers to applying? Do your scholarships encourage participation, and how does the timing of scholarship deadlines/notifications impact choices to go abroad? What can generate higher-quality essays, and how do you reduce reviewer bias? This interactive panel discussion will explore how the University of Minnesota, IFSA-Butler, and CIEE are tackling these important questions. Participants will leave with tools and resources to improve their own scholarships and review processes, and to decrease barriers to scholarships.

1. 11/22/14
1
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SCHOLARSHIPS:
LESSENING THE BARRIERS FOR
STUDENTS AND REVIEWERS
Amanda Fischer, University of Minnesota
Thuy Doan, University of Minnesota
Michelle Tolan, IFSA-Butler
Jarlath McGuckin, CIEE
Objectives
Participants will
leave with:
¨ An understanding of scholarship barriers, and
strategies for how to mitigate them
¨ Ideas for tweaks can you make to your existing or
new scholarships
¨ Actions/ideas to implement in your own institution
or organization

2. 11/22/14
2
Assumptions
1. Must address other financial needs of students in
order for scholarships to be successful
¤ Financial aid, budgeting, and fundraising
2. As educators, we are involved in the process of
discussing financials and scholarships with students
¤ Discussions happen fairly early on
¤ Timing of conversations a big challenge
3. This panel doesn’t have this down 100%
¤ Share lessons learned and generate discussion/ideas
Definition of Terms
¨ Scholarship vs. Grant
¨ “financial need”
¨ EFC (estimated family
contribution)
¨ Diversity: what is it to you?

3. 11/22/14
3
Student Scholarship Barriers
¨ Popcorn: What scholarship-related barriers must
students overcome?
¨ Identify 2-3 specific student populations and the
barriers that might be unique and/or more acute to
them.
Student Scholarship Barriers
¨ Terminology
¨ Perception of “need”
¨ Notions of diversity
¨ Assumptions on availability
First Generation College Students and/or Low-Income
Students:
¤ (all of the above) +
¤ Type of award ($$)
¤ Timing
¤ Application requirements

4. 11/22/14
4
STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP BARRIERS
What role might we be playing in these barriers?
• What do we require (and why)?: letters of
rec, GPA, essays/writing samples
• How informed are we?
• How do we market/promote scholarships?
Promotion of Scholarships

5. 11/22/14
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Promotion to Students: Providers
¨ Marketing to students and advisers is crucial.
¨ Advisers: Same old “beef stew” of scholarships &
grants?
¨ Availability and attainability of new scholarships
& grants
¨ Terminology as barrier: “Scholarship” vs. “Grant”
vs. “Financial Aid”
Promotion to Students: SA Advisers
Strategic promotion can make a BIG difference on campus
>30% increase in scholarship applications
Specific Activities/Resources

6. 11/22/14
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Scholarship Chart
You CAN Afford to Study Abroad
Info Sessions
¨ Focus: Navigating scholarships, choosing an affordable
program, how to use financial aid
¨ 4 x per year, ~ 30-60 students each session
¨ Integrated promotion into other student materials
¤ Flyer with dates in all advising cubes
¤ Always on website
¤ Slide in our First Step session
n Online and in-person 30 min intro session (Study Abroad 101)
¤ Mentioned in our Program Selection Workbook

7. 11/22/14
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Scholarship Process Webpage
4 Step Process
1. Scholarships Chart
2. UofM Scholarship Search
Creative Financing Ideas
3. You CAN Afford to Study
Abroad Info Sessions
4. Support resources:
¤ Center for Writing
¤ Personal Statement Tips
National Scholarship Promotion
Info Sessions, workshops, handouts, and emails to
students for the following scholarships:

8. 11/22/14
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Role of Campus Advisers
¨ Psychological impact of advisers
¤ Encouraging or discouraging
¤ Incorrect or outdated info
¨ Who do students seek info from?
¨ Disseminate beyond Ed Abroad offices
¤ Ex: Funding Learning Abroad Adviser Trainings
¨ Encourage deeper engagement
Scholarship Advising on Campus
¨ Use multiple touchpoints
¨ Personal encouragement
¨ Offer pointers and coaching
¨ Acknowledge students are busy
¨ Suggest 1-2 scholarships
¨ Diversity scholarships
¨ Mention award ratios
¨ Train other campus advisers

9. 11/22/14
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Scholarship Structures
Scholarship Structure
¨ Why do you have a scholarship?
¨ Research who you’re trying to
reach and work backwards
¨ Psychology of Student ≈
Psychology of Scholarship

10. 11/22/14
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Addressing Middle Income Students
¨ Scholarships & Grants now split into 3 buckets:
¤ Academic Excellence
¤ Access
n GAIN
¤ Ambassadorship
¨ Pell eligibility in 2014-2015: EFC = $5157
Timing is Crucial
¨ GAIN – Reply & Retraction
¨ GAIN – Confirm à Travel Agent for airline
ticket à remainder = travel stipend

11. 11/22/14
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Feeling the impact
Structure a scholarship so students are
able to feel the impact
Application Components
¨ What do you need to determine who receives a
scholarship? (i.e. do you really need all you’re
requesting?)
¨ When do you ask for it?
¨ Examples:
¤ IFSA-Butler First Gen
¤ UMN & GAIN

12. 11/22/14
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Eligibility and Preference Factors
Who is your target population?
¤ Eligibility: Broad/narrow enough?
¤ Important to include definitions
n ‘financial need’
Are you using preference factors or eligibility criteria?
¤ Ex: Financial Need/First Generation Scholarship
¤ Who are you trying help?
“Planning” Scholarship Models
¨ CIEE Global Access Initiative (GAIN)
¤ Rolling admissions review
¤ Early application = Early award notification
¨ UMN Financial Need/First Generation Scholarship
¤ Earlier deadline = Early award notification
¤ Rollover capability
¤ Multiple chances to apply

13. 11/22/14
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Essay Prompts, Wordsmithing, and Lowering
Reviewer Bias
Essay Prompt Re-Design
¨ Process
¤ Is there a problem?
¤ Brown bag focus group
¤ Small committee: wordsmith, clarify issues, purpose, goals
¤ Critical approach: Why is this important?
¨ Why high quality essays are important
¤ May color reviewers’ impressions of study abroad quality
¤ Students more competitive for OTHER scholarships
¨ Outcome: Very impressed by heightened quality

14. 11/22/14
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How much reviewer bias does your
structure allow for?
¨ How do our own psychologies affect how we review
scholarships?
¨ Strategies for minimizing reviewer bias:
¤ Detailed rubric
¤ Detailed instructions that give examples of bias to take
into consideration (awareness is key)
¤ For grammar component: non-native speaker checkbox
¨ Outcomes:
¤ Scores no longer flip flop and are more consistent (never
perfect though!)
¤ Reviewers MUCH happier and less emotionally conflicted
Discussion
What methods of scholarship structuring and
promotion have been the most successful and
made scholarships feel accessible to students?
For example:
¨ Do your scholarships reward or encourage participation?
¨ How are you marketing to students?

15. 11/22/14
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Action Items/Takeaways
¨ Analyze: Are your scholarships
achieving what you want?
¨ Think about how you promote &
discuss scholarships w/ students and advisers:
Are scholarship barriers at your institution being addressed?
¨ Which tools/strategies would work well for your institution?
¨ This may be challenging at first, but worth changing the status quo
Call to Action:
¨ What changes will you make this year?
¨ Psychology of Scholarships 2.0, next year?
THANK YOU!
Amanda Fischer, University of Minnesota
fisch856@umn.edu
Thuy Doan, University of Minnesota
thuydoan@umn.edu
Michelle Tolan, IFSA-Butler
mtolan@ifsa-butler.org
Jarlath McGuckin, CIEE
JMcGuckin@ciee.org