A U.S. Department of State scholarship is giving Transylvania University students the chance to earn credit overseas — and to bring those lessons back to Lexington.
The prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship provides up to $5,000 for Pell Grant recipients to study or intern abroad. Two Transylvania seniors used the funding in Italy and Czechia this past summer.
“As a student who never considered studying abroad financially possible, the Gilman Scholarship opened up an opportunity that, looking back, has been one of the greatest things I have done in undergrad,” said Quincy Elliott, who spent three weeks in Prague.
The program is administered by the Institute of International Education with awards covering program fees, airfare, housing, insurance, books, local transportation and passport or visa costs. Supplemental funding is available for some STEM coursework and critical-need languages.
Rachel Wilson, Transylvania’s director of global and intercultural engagement, promotes the Gilman as removing a barrier that keeps many Pioneers from going abroad.
Students apply for a specific credit-bearing program, destination and length of stay and write several essays. Recipients must also complete a follow-on service project at home, sharing what they learned with their campus or community.
“It’s a really competitive process,” Wilson said.
Pell Grant recipients who want to apply for the current cycle have until Thursday, Oct. 1.
Prague, history and a virtual-reality lab
Elliott put his Gilman funds toward studying Authoritarian Currents in European Politics through the Kentucky Institute for International Studies. Coursework traced Prague from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and World War I through Nazi occupation, more than 40 years of communist rule and the Velvet Revolution that helped produce today’s Czech democracy.
“While anyone can learn about these things anywhere in the world, being in the city that truly faced these challenges gave me so much more than a video, textbook or classroom could ever provide,” Elliott said.
The trip reshaped his plans after graduation, including graduate school abroad or a Fulbright English teaching program. For the required Gilman follow-on project, Elliott wants to bring local public school students to Transylvania’s virtual-reality lab for a tour of Prague — a way “to bring Prague and Czechia to them” and widen their interest in travel and education.
Sorrento, science and service
Alexandria Carroll studied this past summer at Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento, Italy, taking Introduction to Volcanology and Marine Conservation. The pre-med biology major said the courses tied environmental biology to public health.
Fieldwork included hiking Mount Vesuvius, exploring the Bourbon Tunnels, snorkeling in the Bay of Ieranto and visiting Turtle Point in Naples, a loggerhead sea turtle rescue sanctuary. Through the Sophia Program, designed for Greek life students to continue service abroad, Carroll read children’s books in English to youths at a public library in Piano di Sorrento while a service leader read in Italian to encourage literacy and bilingualism.
“Studying abroad is truly one of the best decisions I’ve made,” Carroll said. “I was challenged academically, but also personally. I developed my independence, adaptability and confidence.”
She plans to apply to medical school with a long-term goal of becoming a rural women’s health physician. “My experience abroad strengthened my commitment to serving diverse, underserved communities and approaching healthcare with a broader perspective,” Carroll said.
How students pay the rest
Wilson’s office also helps Pioneers stack other aid to programs like the Gilman — Transylvania summer and May term awards, provider scholarships such as those from KIIS, Greek and honorary awards and community funds. And she helps them lower their costs with housing and travel, for instance. Students can also find other campus resources like the Writing Center to help with application essays. Find out more about Transylvania’s study abroad opportunities, and contact the Office of Global and Intercultural Engagement at studyabroad@transy.edu with any questions.
About the Gilman
The scholarship honors the late U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York. Additionally, the related Gilman-McCain Scholarship provides awards of $5,000 for children and spouses of military personnel; Transylvania student Isaiah Smith ’26 put these funds toward study in Taiwan last year.
“Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views, but also adds an enriching social and cultural experience,” Gilman once said. “It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”