YES Abroad provides full scholarships to 65 US high school students every year. YES Abroad students are placed across 13 different countries, all with significant Muslim populations. This scholarship is sponsored by the US Department of State and was created to increase cross-cultural understanding and peace. YES Abroad countries are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, and Thailand. The initial application includes essays, a host family letter, letters of recommendation, and more. Semi-finalists receive an interview with a local volunteer(s). Finalist, alternate, and rejection notifications are released sometime in the spring. I received my finalist notification on March 12th, and it came as a huge (but very welcome) surprise! I highly encourage anybody interested in studying abroad and becoming a youth cultural ambassador to read more about the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad Scholarship here.
About YES Abroad
Updated: Jun 28, 2018