Marietta College announces $15,000 study abroad grants for top incoming first-year students

by Tom Perry

Marietta, OH (04/12/2024) — Marietta College has announced a new $15,000 study abroad grant program for Fall 2024 first-year students with a 4.0 GPA or higher. The generous funding, provided by the Ronald '72 and Simin Shelton Rinard International Travel Grants Program, aims to make international education accessible to the College's highest-achieving students.

"We are thrilled to be able to offer this level of support to our students," said Heidi Terry '96, Marietta College's Vice President for Enrollment Management. "This is another value proposition with a Marietta College education. We have some high academic achievers who will be enrolling this fall, and they can already start making plans for when and where they would like to study abroad."

Since the Rinard program was established in 2022, over a dozen Marietta students have already utilized the grants to study around the world. Recipients have pursued a wide range of international experiences, from law courses at the University of Cambridge to coaching basketball in Australia to conducting environmental research in Singapore. Fall 2024 represents the first time this award will be offered to a wider audience of high-achieving first-year students.

"Exposing students to diverse cultures and global perspectives is essential to their development as adaptable, culturally aware leaders," said Chris Scheppner, Director of Admission. "Studying abroad is a transformative experience, and we want to ensure that financial barriers don't prevent our top students from taking advantage of these life-changing opportunities."

Scheppner added that Christy Burke, Director of Education Abroad, works closely with students to identify the ideal international program to complement their academic interests and goals. To learn more about this exciting opportunity, incoming first-year Marietta students should contact Burke at cb002@marietta.edu.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy, founded in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today, Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers over 50 majors and is consistently ranked among the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major.

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