Scholarships & Special Discounts

International travel can be expensive, but The Experiment is an educational organization, not a teen tour company; our programs are an investment. Every year, The Experiment completes an extensive industry pricing analysis; on a per-day basis, our programs have the most value while maintaining high quality.  For roughly $200 per day, our students receive lodging, three meals per day, itinerary activities, including famous sites, in-country transportation, in many cases teachers and/or subject-matter experts, daily health and safety monitoring, and adult supervision by certified group leaders. 

Along with our educational value, our programs challenge students to get out of their comfort zone, improve their interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills, gain a deeper understanding of a culture, and develop lifelong friendships with teens in their groups and the international community they visit. Parents often tell us that their children return home more mature, independent, open-minded, and prepared for college and beyond. 

According to a recent publication by Dr. Alvino E. Fantini (Intercultural Communicative Competence in Educational Exchange: A Multinational Perspective, Routledge, 2019), based on research conducted by members of the Federation of The Experiment in International Living, in which qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 2,000+ students of The Experiment and SIT Study Abroad programs, alumni reported that: 92 percent said their experience influenced their educational choices and was helpful in gaining access to academic programs, 94 percent said their experience (and the homestay in particular) was helpful in gaining language abilities, and 85 percent said their experience was helpful in gaining employment. 

There are many ways prospective Experimenters can take ownership of their experience from the start. Here are some funding ideas and options to consider. 

Pull in your local community and raise money for your Experiment tuition. You may consider finding a part-time job that could help you earn and save your own money. Or, pledge volunteer hours for a local nonprofit in your home community in exchange for donations. Get as creative and as committed as you want—not only will an ambitious project attract more potential donors and others willing to assist you in your funding efforts; it could spur you on to greater things as well. 

Consider the following: 

• Reaching out to local Rotary clubs, Lions clubs, and/or local foundations 
• Contacting community-based organizations 
• Finding a part-time job 
• Setting up bake sales, car washes, or other fundraising initiatives 
• Crowdsourcing (fundraising on social media)—details on crowdsourcing are below 

To help you reach out to community organizations, The Experiment has created a fundraising template letter. Be sure to personalize your letter with your name and Experiment program. 

Questions? Do not hesitate to contact the Experiment’s admissions team at 1-800-345-2929 or at [email protected]. 

Consider expanding your fundraising to the web. 

Here are some crowdfunding instructions to help you: 

1. Pick a Platform. Websites such as Gofundme, Piggybackr, Indiegogo, and Youcaring are examples of sites set up to launch your cause, attract followers, and track your fundraising progress. A lot of these sites will have service fees—usually a tiny percentage of the money you raise—so remember to adjust accordingly when setting your goal. 
2. Craft your Hook. When writing a compelling campaign to convince people to donate, remember the following:
   • • Address your audience beyond family and friends—aim to convince strangers. 
     • Think of yourself as a business start-up. What product, service, or concept can you offer? 
     • Remember that successful fundraising is more like trading; your donors are buying a cause they support. 
     • Keep it informative, personalized, and brief. 
3. Talk the Talk. Promote, promote, promote! Use Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Post links to your campaign as well as updates on your progress. Ask friends, family members, and supporters to spread the word. Maintain a regular schedule of updates but avoid blitzing people’s feeds (until the final days of the campaign). 
4. Walk the Walk. After reaching your goal, follow up on your promises! Stay organized about who donated how much and what you owe. Like step three, publicize the results of your campaign and their donations. And, of course, share highlights of your time abroad. 

The Experiment invites schools to create collaborative need-based scholarships to enroll students in our summer abroad programs who have demonstrated financial need. In addition to providing a partial need-based scholarship match for a designated number of students receiving funding from your school to participate in The Experiment, we can: 

• Coordinate visits to your school for The Experiment, including assembly presentations and/or classroom visits 
• Provide content about The Experiment that can be shared via school websites, parent listservs, and emails. 
• Provide The Experiment’s posters and catalogs for distribution. 

Over the years, The Experiment has had the honor of partnering with the following independent and charter schools, as well as 60+ mentoring and sponsoring organizations in the U.S. and internationally. Students who have received funding from the schools below have been some of our most engaged, reflective, and successful students on our programs, and have written about The Experiment in their college admissions essays. Read about The Experiment’s impact here. 

We hope your school will join the sampling of our partnerships listed below:

• Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT
• University Academy, Kansas City, MO
• Match Charter Public School, Boston, MA
• MESA Charter High School, Brooklyn, NY

“This is one of our favorite programs for university Academy students. We know the scholarships we provide toward The Experiment empower students to embark on adventures of lifelong significance. We know students who participate are primed to persist in college and gain a competitive edge that promotes their ongoing success.”
– David Rucker, Executive Director of University Academy 

If you are an educator and would like to form a collaborative scholarship*, please contact us at [email protected]. 

If you are a high school student or parent who would like your school to form a collaborative scholarship* with The Experiment, please contact us at [email protected]. We would encourage you to: 

1. Find a supportive teacher or school administrator who has time to meet with you/your family. 
2. We can provide information about the educational benefits of studying abroad with The Experiment to discuss with your teacher or school administrator. Contact us at [email protected] to learn more. 
3. Ask your teacher or school administrator if your school has funding opportunities for external study abroad programming. If yes, please contact us to discuss formalizing a scholarship partnership with your school in a written agreement* signed by both parties. 

*Funding from The Experiment is not guaranteed until a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is completed. 

The Experiment creates and maintains longstanding partnerships with more than 60 mentoring organizations, after-school programs, home-school organizations, community groups, public and private schools, and foundations located across the country. These important partnerships provide tremendous access and opportunity annually to a range of high school students who choose to spend their summer on an Experiment program. Some partnerships provide partial or full scholarship funding for Experimenters. If you are an educator and would like to form a scholarship partnership with your school or community-based organization, please contact us at [email protected].