Can I qualify for financial aid to help support my studies in IR?

Every year since 1998 ACT has awarded financial aid to qualified IR majors. There are two principal forms of support: standard financial aid, based on need; and merit aid, based on academic performance. In 2006 and again in 2007 nearly 40% of incoming students in the IR program received some sort of financial aid.

In most cases the recipients of aid have been extremely successful. Consider Ilda Zhulali, who graduated in 2001 after transferring to ACT from the University of South Carolina. She was the top student in IR when she graduated in 2001. She first began working in the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then went to Oxford to do an MA in International Relations with a scholarship from the Italian government. She is now head of the department of European integration in the Albanian MFA.

Sotiris Themistokleos came to ACT from Cyprus as the recipient of a special scholarship offered by an ACT Trustee. He, too, received an award for academic excellence upon graduation and is currently finishing an MA at Birkbeck College, University of London. He plans to teach and become involved in politics and diplomacy when he finishes his studies.

For the Class of 2011, Valedictorian Ermal Vila was a recipient of Merit Aid with a GPA of 3.9/4; he was also selected by the University of Wales to receive a bursary scholarship for his senior year. During his time at ACT Ermal took part in dozens of lectures and other activities on and off campus, including several master classes with senior diplomats and a session of the European Youth Parliament, and also did a formal internship at the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe. Ermal is currently doing an MA at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies on a full scholarship.