myUface Blog

Many international students wonder, why do universities give scholarships?

In an attempt to answer that question, I want to speak about the source of scholarships, and the larger context in which they are created.  I hope that, by understanding where scholarships come from, international students might have an easier time applying for scholarship support.

Usually, universities give scholarships because they have been asked to do so by particular donors to the university.  Those donors might be individuals, often alumni of the university, who want to create a way for underpriveleged students to study at the university.  The donors might be large corporations or philanthropic foundations, that want to acheive a particular goal – such as giving back to the community that supports them – through establishing financial support for students from a particular area or in a particular field.  Finally, in some cases, the donors are local, state or federal governments that want to establish programs whereby certain kinds of students are enabled to go to a university.

In any case, a scholarship is established when one of these donors gives the university money, and directs them to use it to support students studying at the university.  For example, I might give $1 million dollars to my alma mater, Pomona College, and tell them, “Please use this $1 million to support 3 scholarships per year to students studying English literature who come from Massachusetts and are of native american descent.”  The university can either accept my gift on my terms, and administer the scholarship, or they can say, “You know what?  We’re not really interested in having that kind of scholarship.  Sorry.”  Sometimes, donors administer their scholarships directly, without working with a university (this is the case with the Soros Foundation, for example).

In any event, these scholarship gifts are part of a broader movement, called philanthropy, that seeks to improve society through private (i.e., non-governmental) action.  The word “philanthropy” comes from ancient Greek, and it means, roughly, “Love of Mankind.”  Philanthropists are those that donate their time or their money to change the world in a way that they see as better.  So, in the above example, I might say to myself, “You know, a problem with the world is that there aren’t enough native americans from Massachusetts who get the chance to study English at Pomona College.”  I would then use my resources – in this case, money – to try to address that problem via a scholarship.

What does this mean for you?  Well, when you are applying to a particular scholarship, remember that it was created for a particular purpose – to address some wrong in the world. Ask yourself, what is the purpose of this scholarship?  And let me give you a hint:  the purpose is not, “So that YOU can go to a U.S. university.”  You need to find  scholarships that has a purpose that overlaps with your own goals and ambitions, and apply to them.  When you do, remember, the scholarship is not about you. It’s about the intentions of the donor, and his or her plan to change the world for the better.

By keeping that in mind – by remembering the source of scholarship funds – you should be able to write better scholarship applications.