<p>D1 is planning to take a class through UA this summer. She is a NMF and has no plans to study abroad before she graduates next May. I searched the forum and found a suggestion to use the NMF Study abroad stipend to pay for summer tuition. Has anyone actually had success doing this? I’ve asked D to contact Scholarships to see if she can us it, but thought I would check here in case someone has experience doing this.</p>
<p>my son did this. Just email Scholarships and ask how to do this. I think they paid after the fact, but I’m not sure.</p>
<p>Thanks! Good to know someone has done this. D is emailing them today.</p>
<p>My DD used her summer money to help with expenses associated with her summer internship in DC. It was not a problem at all.</p>
<p>She got a response from Scholarships and the answer is no. The stipend has to be used for either study abroad or summer research under a professor.</p>
<p>Who at scholarships responded to the email? Their response is inconsistent with what has happened in the past. Note that if they mention that the rule changed after your daughter’s senior year in high school, she should be grandfathered into the old rules. This is what happened when UA briefly reduced tuition scholarships from 17 credits to 16 credits per semester (the limit is now 20 credits per semester).</p>
<p>There is a “stipend request form” on the Academics page of myBama. My son is doing UA Oxford this summer and didn’t know how to apply for the stipend. </p>
<p>No offense to your daughter because I don’t know her situation. But any NMF who doesn’t do at least a summer abroad is cheating themselves.</p>
<p>Slippy: no offense to you but I find the statement “But any NMF who doesn’t do a summer abroad is cheating themselves.” to be presumptuous. Not everyone can financially afford to do a study abroad. Yes, yes, there is the stipend but that only covers a small potion of the tab. Heck airfare alone can eat up a major part of that stipend. What about tuition, housing, food, and incidentals??
Some students need to work during the summer so they can have earnings put aside for the school year. Okay, maybe you are saying they have a scholarship for that, but again what about other costs?
I for one, would never presume to say what you have said, it makes parents feel bad if they cannot provide that overseas study opportunity for their students and it makes students feel like they wasted an opportunity if they cannot participate in a study abroad.
I understand that this is your opinion and as such I respect that, it was just that i personally wanted to express that not everyone is capable of doing a study abroad and if they can’t, it doesn’t mean that something in their eduction is lacking.
Well, students can do many things after graduation, they may even travel or work abroad. Who knows?</p>
<p>Geesh, not trying to offend. Sorry. I suggested a semester abroad to Junior, because his scholarship would cover almost all of it. It’s actually less expensive than a summer because of the scholarship. He was not interested. I stand by my statement, though. I regret not studying abroad when I was in school. But I did not have a scholarship and my folks couldn’t afford it. If I had it to do over again, I would find a way. </p>
<p>No offense taken 
Just trying to point out that a study abroad isn’t feasible for every NMF, or every student. Unfortunately, there are lots of things that we would like, but we just can’t have.</p>
<p>In lieu of a funded scholarship for study abroad, there are some overseas internship opportunities for students…that could be a possibility. Comb the internet and start looking very, very early. Some applications are due the year prior.</p>
<p>My son was very surprised at the high cost of the May abroad programs. Because of his major, a semester abroad is out because it throws off his schedule for a full year. He is struggling to do a May program with the meager amount of money he has available even after adding in the NMF $2k (which is basically the cost of airfare and incidentals).</p>
<p>But, I agree with Slippy, it is an opportunity he shouldn’t give up. And hoping it motivates him to get a paying job during the school year next year.</p>
<p>NMF Stipend – My understanding is freshmen will not receive a decision on the award until AFTER spring grades are posted. This means the student must fund the program and if approved, gets a “refund” of the $2k.</p>
<p>I too begged son to do summer abroad. No, he didn’t want to have to worry about class while in another country. He’s saved his NMF stipend every year to finance a trip to Europe this summer after graduation. Son did do research last summer under a professor, and after we paid for his housing, we found out about that myBama request form and son did get a refund for 2K, which he put into the Europe trip fund.</p>
<p>D has decided to not study abroad for a couple of reasons. As a studio art major pursuing a BFA with an additional minor, being able to study abroad would add a semester to her degree. And financially, as an instate student she doesn’t get that nice chunk of change for tuition that the out of state students apply to a semester of studying abroad. Receiving less than $7K to use leaves a lot on the table for her to pay.</p>
<p>She had considered doing a shorter summer abroad, but she has had an internship every summer and she did not want to give up that opportunity or the money she earns.</p>
<p>It is hard to argue giving up an internship versus a study abroad opportunity. If your “internship” involves working for Dad’s company during the summer, well, that “in” will always be there. While finding a connection does trump travel, I agree, though when one gets older, one finds it hard to find six weeks to get away and travel. For those who have this kind of flexibility and already have their connections in place, and CAN AFFORD IT, I would encourage them to take advantage of the opportunity. </p>
<p>2BamaMom - I think DS was drawn to the May programs because many are over before internships/REUs begin. In the end, DS chose a 2 week program.</p>
<p>Maybe y’all should have gone to OU for the NMF deal. They can use their scholarship to pay for the tuition, room and board and the travel abroad money to pay for expenses. It really is a waste of an opportunity to fail to take advantage of the program in Norman.</p>