Learning Abroad Center

Resources for Students of Color

Advisers as a Resource

Begin your exploration of a learning abroad opportunity by scheduling a conversation with your academic adviser to determine how to best apply your coursework and activities abroad to your graduation requirements and post-graduation goals.  Discuss any questions you may have about multicultural considerations abroad with your adviser.

If you prefer to discuss your concerns about studying abroad as a student of color with someone other than your assigned college adviser, the Multicultural Study Abroad Group (MSAG) can help you locate advisers who frequently work with students of color in units such as the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence (MCAE) and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Program (MLK), as well as the Learning Abroad Center.  These advisers know how to help you start planning to fit study abroad into your degree and have experience working with the students who face similar challenges that you are facing when you consider study abroad. 

Print Resources at the Learning Abroad Resource Center

In addition to the web-based resources featured on this website, the Learning Abroad Center's resource center in 230 Heller Hall (map) houses a diversity binder containing a collection of articles and bibliographies (many of which are no longer available online), and a travel library with some books that address multicultural travelers.

General Resources

The Students of Color Online Pre-departure Orientation Module discusses many of the issues and considerations for students of color planning a learning abroad experience.  The module covers racial, cultural and national identity; US political correctness within a foreign context; coping with racial fatigue; and expectations and realities.

DiversityAbroad.com is a valuable resource geared towards promoting study abroad opportunities for multicultural students.  The site includes blogs, profiles and forums from underrepresented students studying abroad, financial resources, and a searchable program database.

Race Abroad for Americans of Color Preparing to Live Abroad is a Glimpse publication that addresses common considerations for and concerns of US students of color studying abroad.  It also contains short articles written by multicultural students who have studied abroad.

The All Abroad website offers mentors who are students, parents, and advisers and are comfortable with addressing diversity concerns in the context of learning abroad. Also available are specific resources for African-American, Asian Pacific Islander American, Hispanic-American and Native-American students.

Financial Resources

Below is a sampling of scholarships aimed at promoting diversity in study abroad.  Check also with your academic department or college for additional funding, as well as our online Study Abroad Scholarship Search.  Expand your search efforts beyond diversity scholarships.  Do not shy away from integrating information about your background into the personal statement if appropriate, even if the scholarship does not specify diversity criteria as a preference factor.

The UMTC Diversity Study Abroad Scholarship and Financial Need Scholarship, administered by the Learning Abroad Center, are scholarships whose target demographic tends to match the profiles of many multicultural students.

Benjamin Gilman Scholarship awards Pell-grant eligible students up to $5000, and gives preference to underrepresented applicants.

Plato's Resources website lists scholarship and financial aid information for students of color in higher education and study abroad.