AIFS Foundation Grants

Eligibility
The Foundation provides grants to both American and international students and to universities, foundations and high schools. Grants have supported: American Red Cross, Girl Scouts of America, Asia Foundation, American Field Service, Institute of International Education and Amigos de las Americas. A substantial annual grant is made to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, which enables newly appointed study abroad advisors in American universities to attend NAFSA's annual conference for professional training in providing counseling to U.S. students considering studying abroad.

In 1999, the Foundation became a NAFSA Golden Benefactor and sponsored a national series of workshops on student financial aid.

For U.S. High School Students
The AIFS Foundation works in cooperation with many organizations to provide support to students in their pursuit of
educational and cultural exchange. Some of these partnerships include:

• The AIFS Foundation, in cooperation with the World Affairs Council in Washington, D.C., provides support to groups
  of inner city high school students for participation in summer study abroad programs.
  
• The AIFS Foundation, in partnership with the Coca-Cola Foundation, encourages participation on education and travel
  programs by American students from the state of Georgia.
  
• In South Africa, the AIFS Foundation is a sponsor of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Scholarship, enabling talented students to participate on the Academic Year in America program. The scholarships were created in recognition of the humanitarian work of Mandela and his commitment to the education and welfare of South African children.

For Higher Education
The AIFS Foundation, in partnership with the Russel and Deborah Taylor Foundation, supports study abroad at universities abroad including Richmond, The American International University in London, and its campuses in Florence and Rome. Trustee Peter Tcherepnine also contributed a substantial donation to fund scholarships at St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University in Russia. We continue to seek to expand scholarship opportunities for college students.

For Gifted Scholars
The Gifted Fund is a scholarship initiative that affords young, gifted students the chance to participate in academically enriching programs, such as the Summer Institute for the Gifted (SIG), that may otherwise be out of their reach financially.

The AIFS Foundation seeks other organizations that support gifted and talented programs for students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Feedback from past participants has been extremely positive: they have broadened their horizons and have had life-changing experiences.

Donors to the Gifted Scholar Fund include:

• Centro Hispano, Reading, PA
• Wyomissing Foundation, Reading, PA
• Black Student Fund, Washington, D.C.
• Renaissance Learning, Inc., Wisconsin Rapids, WI
• Washington School, Washington, D.C.
• New York Community Trust, New York, NY
  - Frederick H. Leonhardt Fund
• I-Lead, New York, NY
• York County Community Foundation, York, PA
  - Harriet T. Campbell Jr. Fund
  - Fred Dallmeyer Fund
  - May D. MacBride Fund
• Carmel Hill Foundation
  

Find out more about Foundation programs — Academic Year in America | American Youth Abroad — and how they are administered.