full ride scholarships in united states

12 Full Ride Scholarships in United States for International Students

Scholarships in United States

Nowadays, it is rare to see a university that doesn’t offer some sort of financial aid to prospective students since we need financial support to start off our educational journey. In order to help you, we have listed 12 full-ride scholarships in the United States for international students.


What Is the Definition of a Full-Ride Scholarship?

Full ride scholarship is a financial award that covers all the cost of your education. Most full-ride awards include the coverage of tuition, room & board, and a stipend for books & needed supplies. For more generous scholarships, they even provide airplane tickets to and from your country.

In addition, they can include a stipend for internships, research opportunities, and study abroad programs. Sometimes, it can come with a requirement to join the honor program of that particular college, which can offer challenging and diverse courses for the scholarship recipient.


How Many Universities in United States Offer Full-Ride Scholarship Programs?

According to this online source, nearly 100 institutions in the US offer full-ride scholarship programs for international students. Due to nation-wide scholarship programs, one full-ride scholarship such as the Stamp Scholarship Program can apply to multiple universities at once.


What Is the Percentage of Students That Receive a Full-Ride Scholarship in United States?

In the United States, the percentage of students that receive full funding is less than 1%. This statistic is similar to most countries since it is hard to get into a full-ride scholarship program. However, with the correct info and background, your chances of receiving a scholarship might increase.


What Are the Minimum Requirements to Receive a Full-Ride Scholarship in the United States?

The grade requirements vary from institution to institution, but the recommended GPA level is getting at least 3.0 out of a 4.0 scale. For standardized testing, getting scores above the 90th percentile would be great, which means above 29 on the ACT and at least 1340 on the SAT.

In addition, the scholarship committee might be looking for good character qualities and extracurricular activities to evaluate your performance even outside of class. Of course, your recommendations and personal essays can be a determining factor for many scholarship applications.


Which University in the United States Has the Cheapest Cost of Attendance?

After giving thought to academic quality, the cheapest university in the United States would be Berea College. Being the only institution that offers free tuition for its prospective students, Berea College also offers many avenues of financial aid even to international students.


Full-Ride Scholarships in United States for International Students

Now is the time to dive into our list of full-ride scholarships in the United States for international students, and please read each scholarship detail carefully! Without further introduction, let’s look at our first scholarship program that offers generous financial aid even to international applicants.

Video Guide for Full-Ride Scholarships

1. Stamps Scholarships

Stamps Scholarship Program was established to award full-ride scholarships to talented students who are in need of financial aid. To be considered for this scholarship, you have to apply to a partner college of Stamps Scholarship, which will result in automatic consideration.

This full-ride scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate either leadership qualities or potential for leadership. In addition, the Stamps Scholarship Committee will also take a look at your grades and your personal character for further evaluation.


2. Johnson Scholarship

The financial benefits of being a Johnson Scholar is huge when compared to any ordinary scholarship. To start off, you receive at least 4 years of full funding and receives a $7,000 stipend for summer activities such as internships, volunteer activities, and research projects.

If you are selected as one of the Finalists for the Johnson Scholarship, Washington and Lee University will cover all the financial expenses related to your trip and during your stay. In short, your airplane tickets and bills for food and lodging along the way will be covered by W&L.


3. Robertson Scholars Leadership Program

Open to students who are considering Duke or UNC-Chapel Hill, Robertson Scholars is a full-ride scholarship program that is open to international applicants. International students who are selected as Finalists must come to campus in order to participate in the final scholarship round.

Even if you are selected as one of the Finalists, you need to pay for the airplane ticket and the visa application process in order to come into the United States. Since you need to attend the competition on campus, be prepared to spend a little bit of money on transportation.


4. Morehead-Cain Scholarship

Offered by UNC-Chapel Hill, Morehead-Cain Scholarship is the first fully-funded program to be established in the United States, and it even offers full financial support for summer programs such as internships, research opportunities, and study abroad initiatives.

To be eligible for this scholarship, you need to apply for UNC Admissions and be nominated by your school or an affiliate program. In addition, you need to on your way to high school graduation and also be one of the top applicants based on your academic grades and extracurricular activities.


5. Cunniffe Presidential Scholarship

Offered by Fordham University, this full-ride scholarship program covers all of your financial costs for four years. Being only offered to undergraduate applicants, Cunniffe Presidential Scholarships are annually given to the top 20~25 applicants of the admitted student body.


6. Alfond Scholars Program

Offered only to prospective applicants to Rollins College, Alfond Scholars Program awards ten full-ride scholarships to admitted first-year students. Due to its merits such as designated research opportunities and guaranteed study-abroad programs, this scholarship program is highly competitive.

If the applicant is approved by the Alfond Scholarship Committee, then they will get invited to on-campus interviews at Rollins College. After evaluating each applicant through various competitions and faculty interviews, ten scholars will be chosen as a member of the Alfond Scholars Program.


7. Banneker/Key Scholarship

Established by University of Maryland, Banneker/Key Scholarship Program is the most prestigious award in the state of Maryland. Offered in two different forms, you can either get a full-ride scholarship that covers the entire cost or get a partial scholarship that covers only a small portion.

In addition to on-campus housing and dining, each scholarship recipient is awarded an annual stipend which they can spend to buy books. As always, you are welcome to participate in any internships, research opportunities, and study abroad programs offered on-campus and off-campus.


8. Wells Scholar Program

Supported by Indiana University Bloomington, Wells Scholar Program is a full-ride scholarship that is only given to nominated students. By looking at the application procedure, two things that you need to do is fill out the early admissions form and also be nominated by your school.

The nomination process isn’t too strict since one of your school representatives just need to fill out a form in order to receive the nomination materials and instructions. Make sure to do this step early since you might miss the nomination deadline due to the application process.


9. Belk Scholarship

Funded by John M. Belk Endowment Foundation, Belk Scholarship provides special opportunities to talented students who are in need of financial support. Ranked among the most prestigious scholarships in the United States, Belk Scholars enjoy four years of free comprehensive education.

Compared to other scholarships, Belk’s application procedure is quite unique when it comes to the selection process. In order for you to be considered, you need to be nominated by either the admissions staff or by a representative of your school.


10. Park Scholarships

Offered through NC State University, Park Scholarship Program is a full-ride scholarship that is given to prospective students of NC State. Based on academic achievements and inner potential, Park Scholarship covers your whole four years and it even covers your summer and winter breaks.

As an international student, you need to be graduating from a high school located in the United States in order to be considered for this scholarship. Unfortunately, that means all international applicants who don’t attend a US high school will be automatically disqualified.


11. Richmond Scholars Program

Given by University of Richmond, the Richmond Scholars receive many benefits throughout their educational career. In addition to the four-year coverage, they get priority registration for all their classes and even receives a $3,000 stipend for academic enhancement.

The application procedure for the Richmond Scholars Program is quite easy since you just need to apply for the admissions of Richmond University. There is no separate application for this scholarship since all prospective applicants will be automatically considered for this scholarship program.


12. Jefferson Scholarship

The application process for Jefferson Scholarship can be harder than most scholarship applications since you need to verify your school’s eligibility as well. Only offered to schools established in certain regions, this full-ride scholarship needs the applicants to be nominated by their school.

First, your school needs to verify its eligibility, and an official from your school needs to nominate you if you want to considered for this scholarship. Overall, the application process for Jefferson Scholarship is more complex, which is the reason why I placed this scholarship at the end of our list.


Conclusion: Always Apply!

If you meet the eligibility requirements and have the time to fill out the scholarship application, go ahead and apply to any scholarship that you can come across. There is no limit on scholarship application since you don’t really know if you will receive that award or not.

When in doubt, always apply since it never hurts to do so. You might not get accepted every time, but you never know unless you try. Thank you for reading this post, and please bookmark our homepage for regular updates! As always, have a great day, and don’t forget to smile.