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The Trump administration stopped State Department funding for scholarships like the Fulbright. Weeks later, it is still unclear when it may resume.
By Vimal Patel
Two days after Frida Larios, a senior at California State University, Los Angeles, landed in Seoul for a study-abroad scholarship, she received an email stating that her money was in limbo.
The State Department enacted a funding pause on grants in mid-February, affecting the longstanding international exchange and study-abroad programs that connect Americans to the world, including the Fulbright-Hays and Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship programs, according to several groups that support international education.
But more than three weeks after the pause was enacted, no one has turned the funding tap back on, leaving thousands of students and others involved in the programs worried they will be stuck abroad without money or may not get to go on scheduled trips at all.
The State Department, which funds the programs but does not administer them directly, did not comment.
Ms. Larios went to Seoul on a Gilman scholarship, which is meant for students with limited financial means. She was expected to receive about $3,000 from the program, which would have contributed to her living expenses for her trip.
“The scholarship is the only reason I was able to come abroad because I’m a Pell grant recipient,” Ms. Larios said. “I was shocked, yes, but at the same time, I could feel it coming.”
The confusion over the international programs is a small piece of the chaos unleashed as the Trump administration takes an ax to federal government spending. The administration has argued it is ending wasteful spending and identifying programs driven by left-leaning ideologies. Critics have said the cuts and uncertainty are diminishing America’s influence in the world.
Melissa Torres, president of the Forum on Education Abroad, said that even the temporary pause in the funding could “cripple our field’s ability to implement the programs.”
“We’re being asked by students and their families, ‘What’s going on? Are we able to go abroad? What are you doing to assist my student who’s abroad right now?’” she added. “Unfortunately, the answer is: ‘We don’t know.’”
Grant recipients like Ms. Larios received only a terse, vague email from the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit that administers the Gilman and Fulbright scholarships.
“I.I.E.’s funding for the Gilman program comes from a U.S. Department of State award,” the email said. “I.I.E. has not received scheduled cash reimbursements. We have no further information at this time.”
The institute did not respond to messages on Friday.
Hannah Ferreira, a psychology and political science double major at Middle Tennessee State University, plans to study in Austria over the summer — which would be her first trip to Europe — as part of the Gilman program. But now she doesn’t know where her trip stands.
“This is the first time that a presidential action has impacted me like this,” Ms. Ferreira said.
Ms. Larios said she feels stranded in Seoul. She said she reached out to everyone she thought could help at her university. She was offered student loans, which she was trying to avoid.
“Ever since I received that email, I’ve been stressed out about my finances,” Ms. Larios said. “I’ve been trying to spend as little money as possible. I’m literally living off of ramen.”
Alan Blinder contributed reporting.
Vimal Patel writes about higher education with a focus on speech and campus culture. More about Vimal Patel
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