Are you a student in need of some money for your empty-pocket-january? The nation’s scholarships can help you out. But how hard is it to receive one of those as a foreign student?
According to the University’s scholarship office the number of international students has increased very much in the last years but it is still very low compared to the number Swedish applicants.
– Generally, we have the same expectations for everybody, but there might be special difficulties for international students because most scholarships have the requirement that students have to be enrolled at the University for at least for two semesters. This excludes students who only stay in Lund for a short period of time, Explains Marthilda Wadenbäck from the scholarship office.
Anyhow, still the nation’s scholarships might be a good option to get some extra money for the ones who stay longer in Lund. And until the first of December it is still possible to apply for them via the scholarship application database.
But watch out for a scholarship that fits you. Not even everyone staying long enough in Lund is available for every scholarship. Whereas Västgöta’s Sven Hulthén Memorial scholarship is designed for ‘needy medicine students who are enrolled in Lund’, Kristianstad’s Scanian Nation scholarship offers support for persons who are actively involved in a nation. But there are also way more curious examples. Gothenburgs for example advertises a scholarship applicable for theology students being abstinent from alcohol.
– Those requirements are really old and we cannot change the original scholarships criteria. They were from a time when there probably were not so much foreign students and people had different moral standards here in Lund, says Carl Andersson, curator at Gothenburgs, and continues:
– And sure, it might be more difficult for international students to meet the criteria of the nations’ scholarships because they focus mainly on Swedish students. But there are still some for which foreign students are eligible and of course everybody is welcome to apply for our scholar ships.
