Twenty-one students from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point who will study abroad this academic year will benefit from more than $12,000 in scholarships through UWSP�s International Programs Scholarship Endowment (IPSE).

The scholarships were awarded for the first time since the endowment was established ten years ago. A group of retired UWSP faculty and former International Programs trip leaders created the endowment in order to continue UWSP�s standing as a leader in study abroad. The endowment now stands at over $200,000 and continues to grow.

Overall, UWSP leads the entire UW System, including Madison, in the percentage of students who study abroad.

Over the past 10 years numerous scholarships have been created through the endowment and new funds continue to be established. In October, a group of alumni who studied in Great Britain during the fall semester of 1987 gathered for a Homecoming reunion and established the first "class" scholarship for a student who will study in Great Britain.

"IPSE has received tremendous support from former leaders, alumni and friends of study abroad," said Bob Wolensky, a UWSP professor of sociology and co-founder of IPSE who, along with his wife, Molly, a UWSP alumna, has created study abroad scholarships for sociology and education students. "In the future, we hope that the 400-plus faculty and staff who have led overseas programs, as well as the 11,000-plus UWSP alumni who have studied abroad, will be inspired to contribute to the endowment so that other students can have similar life-changing experiences."

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