More students attending the University of Iowa will be getting the opportunity to study abroad.
Janis Perkins, director of the University of Iowa’s Office for Study Abroad, says the office has received a $6 million gift for scholarships from the estate of Ann Morse of Fort Myers, Florida.
The only stipulation is that the study abroad scholarships be awarded on a "need basis." Currently, the University of Iowa sends around 1,100 students to study abroad every year.
Perkins says the students are sent to 50 different countries, "and we’re hoping with the addition of the Ann Morse scholarships, we’ll be able to provide generous scholarships to at least 150 to 200 students who currently can’t afford to study abroad."
Perkins says employers are seeking graduates that have international experience. "Studying abroad not only helps in very obvious and tangible ways, like improved foreign language skills and familiarity with another culture," Perkins says, "but studying abroad also makes students more self-relient, more independent, willing to take risks and accept challenges, and other qualities that are very valuable to students for whatever they’re going to do in life."
Perkins says Ann Morse’s husband was a 1930 graduate of the University of Iowa.