KENNESAW, Ga. | Jul 24, 2026

When computer science major Aaliyah Uchendu learned that Kennesaw State University offered an education abroad program in Japan, she was hesitant to apply due to costs, but her mother encouraged her not to count herself out.

That conversation prompted Uchendu, an Honors student in the Keeping Sights Upward Journey Honors College, to apply for multiple scholarships and by the time she boarded a plane to Tokyo earlier this summer, scholarships had covered nearly all her costs.

Uchendu is one of a record number of KSU students awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship this year. The Gilman Scholarship is a prestigious award funded by the US State Department that provides recipients up to $5,000 to support study or internships abroad; only about 20%-25% of applicants are selected for the award. During the March 2026 application cycle, 56 KSU students applied, and 10 received the award. Across the full academic year, 73 KSU students applied, and 11 students earned scholarships to study abroad.

The milestone reflects a growing partnership between KSU's Office of Prestigious Undergraduate Awards (OPUA) and Education Abroad , which expanded workshops and one-on-one mentoring to help students prepare competitive applications.

“We made some really important steps forward," said Jamie Elliott, associate dean for academic affairs in the KSU Journey Honors College. “The first was to be very intentional about working with our partners in Education Abroad to provide workshops, both informational workshops and mentoring workshops for students.”

Those efforts helped students see the Gilman Scholarship as an attainable opportunity while strengthening their applications, Elliott said.

For Uchendu, the experience became much more than a trip abroad.

Visiting a Japanese university with her education abroad cohort gave her a behind-the-scenes look at emerging technologies. She was especially fascinated by a project that used nerve sensors to transmit hand movements from one person to another and by researchers working on early self-driving car technology.

“I got to see the behind-the-scenes look at the development process behind technologies people often take for granted,” she said. “It's nice to have that perspective because we just see the final stages and we don't really know how they produced it.”

Honors political science student Sidney Agee, another Gilman Scholar, also had a transformative experience studying abroad in Peru.

Though she once envisioned a career in law, Agee said her experience in Peru shifted her perspective. Visiting communities in the Andes and seeing the limited access to resources and education ignited a desire to make education more accessible.

"I thought I wanted to go to law school and work in Congress," she said. "But it wasn't until I studied abroad that I realized a passion I didn't even know I had. I realized that if I'm going to do something political, then I want to make education accessible."

During her two weeks in Peru, Agee also visited Machu Picchu, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World; the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, recognized as the oldest university in the Americas.

Now a Global Ambassador with the Office of Global Education, Agee is preparing a Fulbright Scholarship application with support from OPUA.

Honors nursing student Montavian Walker, who studied in the Dominican Republic, said the scholarship allowed him to experience healthcare beyond the United States.

"I wanted to study abroad because I knew it would expose me to a completely different healthcare system and culture," Walker said. "The Gilman Scholarship took away a major financial barrier and allowed me to focus on learning instead of worrying about how I was going to afford this experience."

Elliott said the record-setting year demonstrates both the caliber of KSU students and the university's growing national reputation.

"I think it shows that our students are going to be really competitive at the next step of their career, because they've had this unique study abroad experience, but also the experience of trying something new, putting themselves out there and achieving a goal," Elliott said.

Students interested in applying for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which has application deadlines annually in October and March, should contact the Office of Prestigious Undergraduate Awards at opua@kennesaw.edu. Students who are interested in study abroad opportunities should visit the Education Abroad  website and attend the  Education Abroad Fair held on campus every fall and spring.

– Story by Christin Senior

Photos provided

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 51,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university's vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.