Funding Your Experience -- The School for Field Studies

Making study abroad affordable takes work. You and your student need to do the research. There are a lot of outside scholarships available. Also, planning and budgeting are critical to making Study Abroad affordable. Students must start early and plan ahead. At SFS, we offer $300,000 in need-based scholarships a year, Andreas Scholarships for public schools students, and low-interest and no-interest loans. For more information on financial aid available through SFS, please visit Tuition and Financial Aid Section.

Although the School for Field Studies (SFS) may be more expensive than your son’s or daughter’s home institution tuition, any study abroad experience is an investment in his or her education and professional development. Paying a little more for one semester spread over four years isn’t that much more to pay, given the experience the student gains as a result.

A high-need student at a public institution with a low cost profile might pay $10,000 a semester ($7,000 tuition/$3,000 R&B). Paying an additional $7,000 for a semester may seem like a lot; however, if you spread it out over all four years, it is an additional $875 per semester.

A low-need student who receives a merit scholarship that does not transfer to Study Abroad has to pay more for SFS. Again, spreading the additional cost over eight semesters makes it a worthwhile investment.

Here are some ways studying abroad with SFS will contribute to your student’s future success:

1. SFS will complement and enhance students’ on-campus experience and education and make them stronger candidates for grad schools, jobs, Peace Corps, etc.

2. The value-add of SFS can be seen in skills such as critical-thinking, field research skills, quantitative research skills, scientific writing, oral presentation skills, language and cultural competency, as well as things like GIS and SCUBA certification.

3. Interpersonal skills that are highly regarded in professional development—showing you can step out of your comfort zone, community service, flexibility, leadership, and group work.

4. Articulating their SFS experience on resumes and grad school applications is a critical piece of the puzzle.

Ellen George
Turks and Caicos Spring '09

"SFS offered me the best chance to do hands-on research during my study abroad, which is essential experience for a future field biologist!"
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Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition
Mallory Dimmitt - Mexico Spring ’97; Carlton Ward, Jr. - Kenya Summer ’97

"I look back and the most challenging days are the most memorable. They are things we overcame and managed to enjoy"
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Lauren Thie
Kenya Summer '06

"Seeing Mt. Kilimanjaro’s glaciers connected me with climate change in a new way."
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Cassie Freund
Kenya Summer '09

"My SFS experience affirmed what I already knew about myself. I wanted to spend my life doing ecological field research."
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Darren Aronofsky
Kenya Summer '85; Alaska Summer '86

"My two summers with The School for Field Studies completely changed my life. There were so many amazing individual experiences that had a huge impact on me, and it’s easy for me to draw from them."
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Diana Boon
Kenya Fall ’90

"I have a feeling all of this experience made my application to veterinary school very interesting and well-rounded, plus helped me to make more contacts within the wildlife and zoo medicine field."
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Ethan Zohn
TCI Spring '95

"There were plenty of times when we could have stopped, and plenty of reasons: governments, lack of money and so on. But the goal was always in the back of our minds. It's a bit like the scientific process – what is the problem? What is our hypothesis?"
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Justin Dohn and Andrew Tredennick
Dohn - Australia Spring ’08; Tredennick - Kenya Fall ‘05

"My field experience in Australia is the source of my passion and enthusiasm for ecological research."
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Maya Higgins
Kenya Fall '08

"During her amazing year as a Watson Fellow, Maya swam with whale sharks, watched yellow-eyed penguins nesting, and 'discovered how to easily shed stress and live in the moment, how to connect with people from various backgrounds, and how to live humbly and modestly with few possessions.'"
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Sarah Mussoline
Turks and Caicos Fall ’06

"SFS inspired me to pursue a job studying the marine environment."
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Annie Provo
Field Practicum in Public Health and Environment - Kenya Summer '09

"I learned to look at the world in an entirely new way and had begun to identify the biases that influence the way in which I approach the world and new situations."
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Aubrey Ellertson
Turks and Caicos Islands Spring '10

"My interactions with these amazing people have completely reshaped my life and world view. I learned the health of an ecosystem is measured by the health of the community."
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Brian Gill
Costa Rica Summer '08; Intern Costa Rica '09-'10

"My experiences at SFS have certainly helped me to gain perspective and focus on my professional goals, and they empowered me with a desirable skill set for graduate study of ecology in the tropics."
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Carolyn Doherty
Turks and Caicos Fall '09

"Our class had some hilarious mnemonic devices to help us remember the scientific names of all the species of algae, reef fish, and corals. I actually still remember most of them!"
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Clifford Haugen
Turks and Caicos Islands Summer '95

"It is good to know that, despite challenges, The School for Field Studies remains committed to marine resource studies on South Caicos. They are clearly a positive influence in the community and, I have no doubt, are still changing students’ lives every day."
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Douglas Fudge
North Atlantic (Gulf of Maine) Summer '97, Humpback Whale Ecology

"I was on night watch and was down below recording data in the log book when I heard an unfamiliar, low creaking noise. When I told our professor, Steve Schwartz, he immediately sprang into action, grabbed his hydrophone, and started lowering it into the water."
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Eleanor Mayer
Australia Spring '01

"At SFS, I felt plugged into the environment that I was in, rather than being a tourist. As a planner, you want to be really plugged into the environment where you work."
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Florence Reed
Australia Fall '87

"I left SFS with a desire to protect what was left of the world’s tropical forests and a much deeper appreciation of the interconnectedness of life…of all the flora and fauna."
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Future Leaders Team
Tony Christopher - Costa Rica Summer '07, Daniel Lieberman - Kenya Spring '99, Rainy Shorey - Kenya Summer '96

"When working on a big picture concept like ‘Vision 2050’ with the Future Leaders Team, having a fundamental understanding of how things work on a local level really helped."
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Gayle Schmidt
Australia Fall ’02

"I saw the importance of learning how to re-plant and re-populate a rainforest plot, but I also realized that projects can't go far without the collective support and concern of others."
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Helena Manzella
Costa Rica Spring '10

"It is one thing to learn about the socioeconomic-environmental 'give-and-take' of developing urban areas, but it is something else entirely to discuss it in the home of a trash collector whose wife works at the Marriott two beaches away..."
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Kristen Patterson
Palau Spring '95

"We swam in the lake, surrounded by millions of jellyfish, and we did not feel a thing. It was like floating in a bath of warm, salty Jell-O. Witnessing evolution up close and personal made a lasting impression."
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Maria Fernanda Obando Quesada
Costa Rica Summer '11

"We taught schoolchildren that the rivers are not simply water but that there is life in the river, the aquatic insects, and all living things benefit from them."
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Matt Richter
Bhutan summer '10

"Working with a fixed 35mm lens forced me to get close to people. I found that if I was open with my subjects and showed a keen interest in them, they were willing to let me photograph them. Usually they were just amused by the funny kid with a camera."
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Rob Holmes
Kenya Fall '90

"SFS laid the foundation for building my key passions: conservation, media, and international travel. I was a self-taught photographer in Africa learning about wildlife management. And now, these passions are the heart of Green Living Project."
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Ruth Baldwin
Mexico Fall '04

"This was one of the most memorable and best experiences of my life. I highly recommend doing an SFS program and living every moment of it to the fullest!"
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Stephanie Eby
Kenya Spring ’01

"For the first two and a half years of my undergraduate education at Bates College I took all of the necessary courses for veterinary school and spent my summers volunteering at veterinary hospitals. However, in Kenya, all of that changed."
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Taryn Page
Mexico Summer '05

"Studying with SFS truly shaped me as a teacher, sparking in me a strong passion to impart a love of learning about environmental issues."
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