ICCC Study Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Scholarship
General Policies and Procedures

The ICCC awards $2,500 scholarships to college students participating in study abroad programs in Italy.

Study abroad programs should be two weeks or more and up to a full semester. Because programs vary significantly, please contact ICCC if you have any questions about whether your study abroad program qualifies.

Completed applications must be submitted by the deadline specified each year to be eligible for consideration. Recipients are chosen by the Scholarship Committee based on academic performance combined with an essay. Finalists may be invited to participate in an interview with the committee. It is a great honor to receive a scholarship which is applied to the cost and associated expenses of the student’s selected study abroad program. Awards are contingent upon the student’s acceptance into the study abroad program. Recipients are required to provide a three-to-five-minute video about their experience after their trip, which may be used in part or in whole to promote the ICCC scholarship program. Recipients will also receive a one-year complimentary membership to the ICCC.

Information is provided to area colleges and universities and made available on the ICCC website.
Students enrolled full-time at any four-year college or university, including Graduate School and PhD programs with a physical campus location in the State of Texas are eligible to apply. Students enrolled full-time at any four-year college or university, including Graduate School and PhD programs with a physical campus location in the United States are also eligible to apply if applicant, the applicants’ parents, or the applicants’ grandparents have been active members of the ICCC-Houston for at least the past two years. An ICCC staff member will confirm membership.
Completed applications are due in the ICCC office on the date stated on the application. The deadline is strictly observed. Deadline for Fall 2023 semester is March 15, 2024. The only way applications can be accepted is via mail, overnight delivery, and brought in-person.
An assigned ICCC staff member will review each application as it is received to ensure that the application has been properly completed. When the application is considered complete, and the applicant is deemed qualified, a copy of the original is made, but the applicant’s name, as well as all referenced to his/her name will be removed and replaced with a code number. The staff member will keep a master list so that codes can be matched with names once finalists are chosen.
At a meeting of the Scholarship Committee, the committee selects applicants who have demonstrated success in college, as determined from their GPA and letters of recommendation. The essay regarding why the applicant chose Italy, or the essay regarding how the applicant will apply the learning/experience upon return, will be evaluated. The Committee may invite the finalists for an interview before making the final selection. If, during a Scholarship Committee meeting, any Committee member becomes aware, in any way, that his/her relative is an applicant, the Committee member must remove himself/herself from the selection process for that year.
Once the Committee selects its recipients, the Chairperson identifies them to the Board of Directors. The recipient of the scholarship is then notified by a letter, which describes the procedure for awarding the scholarship.
If the scholarship funds are required to be paid to the university, then checks are sent to the university’s financial office. The scholarship recipient must furnish the ICCC office with his/her university’s name, the university’s mailing address, his/her student ID number, and his/her social security number so the funds are not misdirected. The foregoing information will be contained in the body of the check, and it is the scholarship recipient’s obligation to ensure that it is provided to the ICCC office in a timely manner. Upon receipt of a copy of the recipient’s study abroad program acceptance notification and registration for the program, a check for $2,500 will be sent to the university.
If the university cannot accept payment, the check will be sent directly to the scholarship recipient. The recipient must furnish the ICCC office with a copy of the fee statement from the university or affiliated program provider(s) showing study abroad program fees due. It is the intention of the ICCC to send checks prior to the fee due date so the recipient can use the funds to pay the university, however it is the recipient’s responsibility to provide documentation in a timely manner to the ICCC to facilitate this.

If the student has already paid the study abroad program fees to the University affiliated program provider(s), the ICCC check can be sent directly to the recipient as reimbursement upon receipt of proof of payment to the university.