Scholarship sends sophomore to London for the fall
Jigar Gohel, a sophomore in Civil and Mechanical Engineering, is studying in London this fall. The Lakemoor, Ill., resident is one of four UIC students awarded a U.S. State Department Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship to study abroad.
Gohel and his peers are among more than 850 American undergraduate students from more than 320 colleges and universities across the United States selected for the honor.
The UIC recipients represent the colleges of engineering, education, and liberal arts and sciences.
Sponsored by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Gilman International Scholarship Program aims to diversify the group of students who study abroad and their destinations. To be eligible for the award, students must demonstrate financial need by receiving a federal Pell Grant for their studies.
Each scholars receives up to $5,000 to apply toward their study abroad program costs. Since 2006, UIC students have won more than 145 Gilman scholarships totaling approximately $585,000.
The Gilman program is funded through the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000 and is administered by the Institute of International Education’s Southern Regional Center in Houston. The program honors former U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, who was chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee.