As part of a well-rounded liberal arts education and specifically as noted in the University’s Strategic Plan:

“Intercultural engagement, both local and global, offers unmatched opportunities for students to develop humane sensibilities, and to appreciate the differences in the nation and the world. Through study, understanding, and action, students learn to interpret complex societies firsthand and to communicate with a variety of people, whether from other national cultures or other demographic groups. These skills form an important foundation for our students to apply the knowledge and concepts they learn through the disciplines, enabling them to lead the larger communities in which they find themselves. More broadly, students come to realize that the local and the global are, finally, connected.”

To this end we offer a wide array of opportunities and where possible provide funding to assist as many students as funding permits, who may choose to include external study as part of their curriculum.

Advent and Easter Programs

Following are the guidelines used for allocating traditional financial aid for external study programs for Advent and Easter semesters (referred to as “portable funding”.):

  • Given limited University financial aid funds available, use of university grants and scholarships to support external programs is not guaranteed.
  • Any student wishing to receive institutional funding (any scholarship or grant funded by Sewanee) for any external program must apply for funding consideration by the following deadlines: February 15 for those students wishing to study externally for the Advent Semester of the upcoming academic year and October 10 for those wishing to study externally during Easter Semester of that year. A student wishing to receive portable funding for external study must attend an approved Sewanee program. Only programs approved by the institution are eligible for portable funding.
  • Students who plan to use only federal or state financial aid for external study must also be receiving credit for their coursework, recorded by Sewanee, be enrolled at least half-time and obtain an approved study abroad leave of absence to receive consideration for funding.
  • The application process begins with a mandatory meeting with the Associate Dean of Global Education held each semester. Each student must submit their application and rationale for study abroad. A faculty statement is also required that supports and provides further confirmation of the specific benefit and academic program relevance for the student.
  • Each student is ranked on a 10 point scale—GPA (4), Student Essay (4), and Professor Recommendation (2). In the student essay the student must address how the chosen program is integral to the progress of the student’s academic pursuits and/or longer-term goals and aspirations, justify the choice of program, and explain the anticipated scholarly and personal benefits of the proposed period of external study. The professor’s recommendation should respond to the student’s proposal, evaluate its feasibility and whether the choice of program is appropriate, and explain whether the student should be granted portability. Students who participate in an official exchange program for which tuition payment is made to Sewanee may receive a bonus point. The ranking by the Standards Committee is then used as a basis for portability decisions, given the amount of financial support which is available for the given term.

The policies above apply to study abroad programs but also to those specific domestic programs which have been approved for special portability consideration (e.g., the Yale-Directed Research Program, Washington semester).

NOTE: Students planning to attend University-sponsored external study programs, such as European Studies, Sewanee in Spain, etc. also need to apply to receive portable funding consideration. Acceptance into University-sponsored external study programs does not carry with it automatic approval of portable funding.

No portable funding can be released if there is a hold on the student’s account and until a leave of absence for study abroad has been properly filed with and approved by the Office of the Associate Dean of the College.

Summer Internships and Programs

Opportunities exist for both formal study and internships during the summer. Many departments and programs have funding beyond traditional financial aid available to assist students participating in these programs. You should refer to the individual departments for information on their specific funding availability. For credit bearing programs students may be eligible for federal student loans and Tennessee residents may have Hope Scholarship eligibility Please contact the Office of Financial Aid regarding federal student loans or Tennessee Hope Scholarship funding for summer, credit bearing programs. Coursework through summer external study, not accepted for credit at Sewanee, cannot be funded through federal or state aid.