The Honors International Scholars Program (HISP) supports Honors students engaging in overseas opportunities by providing 80-100 scholarships a year with an average range of $2,500 to $5,000 per award. HISP funding can be used for traditional university-sponsored study abroad programs, university-to-university exchanges, language institutes, internships, and research and public service projects.

HISP awards are merit-based, taking into account GPA (minimum 3.5), quality of essays, and fit of the program to the student’s academic and professional goals. The amount of each award depends upon program costs, financial need, and funds available. Applicants must be in their second or third year of college at the time of application (based upon date of enrollment, not credit hours). Because of COVID disruptions, applicants in their fourth year will be considered if their proposed travel occurs before graduation. First years are not eligible for the award.

Honors has more funding for some world regions than others. Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand are particularly competitive, since Honors has more funding for other world regions.

For 2024, there will be two HISP application cycles:

• Round 1 is the only opportunity to apply for funding for travel during spring 2024, and is the first priority deadline for travel during Maymester and summer 2024. Decisions for the first application will be issued by mid-December 2023. Some who apply in this first round for Maymester or summer funding, who receive lower rankings by the review committee, may be deferred for consideration until the second round. The application deadline for HISP Round 1 is Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 12pm.
• Round 2 is another opportunity to apply for funding for Maymester and summer 2024, as well as fall 2024. The HISP Round 2 application will be available in December 2023, and will be due in mid-January 2024. Decisions for this second application pool will go out in mid-to-late February 2024.

Apply for HISP 2024 Round 1 here

Factors to consider:

• The most competitive region is Western Europe; awards for Western Europe typically go to top-performing students traveling abroad for the first time, demonstrating significant financial need, or with particularly compelling reasons to complete the proposed program
• If you receive UGA’s Experiential Learning Scholarship to fund the same trip, your award amount may be reduced by Experiential Learning
• Applicants can only submit one application per competition, for one proposed program (should your program plans change once you receive the grant — because it is cancelled, etc. — we try to be flexible); if you are deferred for consideration from Round 1 to Round 2, you are not required to re-submit your application, although any improvements you’d like to make to your application are welcome
• A student can only receive HISP funding one time