Thirty percent of Clark University undergraduates study abroad, compared with only 2 percent of college students nationwide. And now there’s even more good news to report: Clark has a record number of students – nine – who received the U.S. State Department’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study or intern abroad this spring.

“This year, we worked even harder to promote funding opportunities and access in study abroad for underrepresented students, and we’re really proud of this number,” says Alissa Kramer, director of study abroad at Clark. “In the last five years, we’ve had 37 students receive the award, including nine this fall. Having nine recipients at a small, liberal arts university like Clark means our students are supported in choosing diverse and non-traditional study abroad experiences.”

On average, only 28 percent of U.S. college students who apply for Gilman awards receive them; at Clark, 70 percent of the students did, according to Kramer.

The nine Clark students who recently received the award for study abroad this spring include:

• Katy Deng ’19, of Quincy, who will study in the Netherlands; Deng is a political science major focusing on American politics and public policy, and an environmental science minor.
• Harris Eidelman ’19, of Millis, who will study in Peru; Eidelman is an environmental science major, and geography and Spanish minor.
• Tracy Graham ’19, a Spanish major and English minor from North Reading, who will study in Spain.
• Crisbelly Medina Adames ’19, a management major from Lynn, who will study in Chile.
• Brandon Mooney ’19, of Douglas, who will study in Ireland; Mooney is a political science major focusing on international relations, and a minor in international development and social change.
• Clementine Mukarukundo ’19, of San Diego, Calif., who will study in Australia; Mukarukundo is a double-major in biology and psychology.
• Armely Pichardo ’19, of Lawrence, who will study in Ghana; Pichardo is majoring in English and minoring in education, with a concentration in Africana studies.
• Mary-Ellise Schiffer ’19, of Narragansett, R.I., who will study in Australia; Schiffer is an environmental science major, focusing on earth systems science.
• Daniel Walsh ’19, an English major from West Hartford, Conn., who will study in Spain.

They join two students who received the awards in July for study abroad experiences this fall:

• Halley Glier ’19, of Shelbourne, who is studying in Dakar, Senegal; Glier is majoring in international development and social change, and minoring in French and Francophone studies.
• Joya Hall-Sullivan ’19, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who is studying in London; Hall-Sullivan is a double-major in history and political science, focusing on law and society.

For the 2017-18 academic year, nearly 1,000 American undergraduate students from 386 colleges and universities received awards. Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply toward their study abroad or internship program costs, with additional funding available for the study of a critical language overseas.