Scholarship Loan Program

It is the Scholarship Loan Program that opens the door to graduate education for many master's students at CATIE. In addition to a scholarship, each recipient receives a loan to be repaid over an eight-year period, beginning a year after graduation. The combination covers full tuition for the two-year program and most fees. The repayment rate is excellent, a true indication of how much graduates appreciate the help they receive.

Some 35 students currently are studying at CATIE thanks to an endowment begun with $5 million from the United States Agency for International Development in 1994. Most students participating in this program come from low-income families and from indigenous groups. Women are encouraged to apply. Competition is fierce and applicants exceed the number of scholarship loans available. Every year highly qualified candidates for the master's program are unable to enroll because they lack adequate funds.

You can help

• $75,000, with matching funds from CATIE, will create a $ 150,000 endowment, and a permanent scholarship under the name of a specific donor.
• Gifts in any amounts combine to build the endowment and create additional loans, allowing more students to obtain a graduate degree from CATIE.

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Scholarships

While more than half of the students in our master's degree program require full scholarships, partial scholarships are essential for others. A donor who gives money for a scholarship will receive information about the recipient and have the opportunity for firsthand communication with him or her.

You can help

• $10,000 will establish a scholarship endowment named by the donor. CATIE will match that amount to provide a scholarship of $1,200 per year. Because the principal is never touched, the gift will continue to improve the lives of young people year after year, as well as the communities and organizations they work with when they return to their home countries as graduates. A donor can continue to contribute to his or her scholarship endowment to increase the number of scholarships per year or the amount awarded.
• $300 provides an incentive scholarship. Each year CATIE awards this scholarship to the highest-ranking student, who lacks sufficient funds to enroll, in each of the master's programs.

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Stipends for Living Expenses

Students accepted into the master's program are required to show they have enough funds at the time of enrollment to cover food and housing. Because family incomes of so many of our students are quite low, these costs are a big hurdle on the way to a graduate education — most scholarships do not cover funds for living expenses.

CATIE students live in economical campus housing ($80 per month for single students, $120 for married students); however, two years without a steady income to cover day-to-day living expenses present a financial challenge for most.

Donors will receive information about the recipient(s) of these stipends and will learn that these gifts made the difference in allowing these students to enroll and open the door to a better future.

You can help

• $3,600 covers the cost of food and lodging for a single student for one year.
• $6,000 assists a married student and his/her family. A number of women students at CATIE who are single parents especially require this support.