What are the Available Scholarships to Help You Become a Teacher Abroad

Scholarships to Help You Become a Teacher Abroad

5 TEFL scholarships to apply for now

1. Premier TEFL

If the idea of earning a fully-accredited online TEFL certificate, ending with 3 weeks of teaching practice in Central Europe, sparks your interest, don’t pass up this unique opportunity for TESOL scholarships. Once complete, you’ll be certified to teach in many parts of the world. After your scholarship is applied, you may end up paying as little as under $650 for your certification, or even less if you opt for a shorter-week program.

2. Fulbright Program, English Teaching Assistantship (ETA)

Funded by the U.S. Department of State, these prestigious TEFL grants place Fulbrighters in over 80 countries, for stints of 9-12 months. Along with being an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in a certain type of school, from primary to high schools, and even universities, you will work on a local cultural exchange project in your new community. The Fulbright TEFL scholarships cover housing, roundtrip airfare, health insurance, a living stipend, and more, depending on the country. Applicants don’t need a TEFL certificate, but qualifications vary by country, and may include some level of language experience.

3. JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program

if you’ve been accepted into the JET Program to teach English in Japan (congrats!), you should definitely apply for a CLAIR grant. There are two: the TEFL Grant and the JLPT Grant. These partial grants are meant to help selected JETs offset the cost of obtaining TEFL certification. For over 30 years, the JET program, a Japanese government-backed program, has brought in English Teaching Assistants (ALTS) from English-speaking countries around the world. JETs participate as English language teaching assistants in a variety of schools while supporting cross-cultural exchanges between nations.

4. English Language Programs Fellowship

If you’re already an experienced teacher and want to support cultural exchange and ESL teaching programs abroad, then this 10-month fellowship might be for you. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, this prestigious fellowship allows you to grow professionally and enrich your connections with various government organizations and universities abroad. The program provides housing, roundtrip airfare, and a small stipend. To apply, you must have an MA in TESOL or at least a 120-hour TEFL certificate with a valid teaching credential for your state, along with two years of teaching experience. The application opens in early fall for the following fall term, with late November as a hard application deadline.

5. Fund For Teachers

Experienced educators, listen up! This organization has awarded over $32 million in grants to excellent U.S. teachers for a variety of self-designed professional development projects abroad. Past projects have included volunteer teaching in Chengdu, China, as well as travel to Cairo, Egypt to observe Egyptian and Jordanian ESL teaching strategies. Applicants are asked to identify a need in their school and show how their learning abroad will impact their students’ learning when they return. For this funding, you’ll need to write a grant proposal, but the Fund for Teacher’s website provides extensive resources and guidance for writing a stellar proposal! Bonus: You can apply as an individual or group project.

by ANDREA MORAN