Northwest Iowa — Northwest Iowa college students who speak Japanese, and who long to experience what it would be like to live on the island nation are being offered an opportunity to spend a full year there. Kassi Wheeler, international program manager for Iowa Sister States, says they’re now taking applications for a scholarship to study in Iowa’s sister state of Yamanashi, Japan, for the 2016-2017 academic year.
The scholarship winner will be attending classes at the public university in the city of Kofu while working on the research project.
Yamanashi is Iowa’s oldest sister state, with a relationship dating back 60 years. The Yamanashi Prefecture Research Scholarship was established 20 years ago between Iowa Sister States and Yamanashi Prefectural University. Wheeler says the person who wins this scholarship will first need to demonstrate they will be a positive ambassador for Iowa.
The applicant needs to be a current college student or a recent college graduate from Iowa. The scholarship covers tuition, entrance fees and accommodations in Yamanashi. The recipient will be responsible for their own travel and living expenses, though I-S-S does provide a $1,200 grant to offset those costs. The deadline to apply is December 15th. The application is available on the Iowa Sister States website: www.iowasisterstates.org.
