The BEST Scholarships

The 2012 BEST Scholarship is now open.

The BEST (BUNAC Educational Scholarship Trust) scholarships offer financial assistance to eligible applicants who are looking to undertake postgraduate study in the USA or Canada.

The scholarships are open to:

• UK passport holders only
• those who are currently or, have been within the last five years inclusive, in full-time tertiary education at a UK university or college.
• those who have applied for a postgraduate course in North America starting August/September 2012.

At the judging stage, preference is given to those whose proposed study in North America is likely to do most to further transatlantic understanding and/or to those who are required to go to the US or Canada to do a specific course.

A number of scholarships are awarded each year from a fund of $50,000 allocated for the BEST Scholarships. The sum of $4,000 is available as the Christopher J. Harbour Memorial Scholarship to a candidate looking to do sports-related studies and $2,000 as the John S. Ball Award to a candidate looking to pursue a teaching or geography-related career. The individual amounts awarded vary but a typical award is in the region of approximately $5,000-$10,000.

The BEST Scholarships are top-up funds, not the prime source of funding and candidates should be actively looking to secure funding from other sources while in the process of applying to BEST. Candidates cannot already be engaged in their course of study in North America at the time of application although they should be looking to apply to courses in their chosen field.

Application forms can be downloaded here. The closing date is March 16th 2012. Shortlisted applicants will be expected to attend an interview in London at the end of May or early June.

Awarding of scholarships is at the sole discretion of the BEST interview panel. Terms and conditions of application are included on the Application Form.

For more information on studying in the USA please contact the Fulbright Commission.

For further information on the BEST Scholarships and the Howard Crew Awards and Scholarships you can e-mail: scholarships@bunac.org.uk or call the London BUNAC office on (020) 7251 3472.

The Howard Crew Awards

Introduced in honour of Howard Crew, General Secretary of the British Universities North America club for 25 years, the Howard Crew Awards consist of the Howard Crew Scholarship and the Howard Crew Prizes and are awarded on a competitive basis. Entrants are required to submit a humorous piece of creative writing which is awarded according to originality , presentation and content. The unique nature of the awards reflects the personality and sense of humour of Howard Crew.

Howard Crew Prizes

The Howard Crew Prize of an Apple iPad is awarded annually for the best, humorous and original accounts of a BUNAC programme experience. You can submit your account in any medium or combination of media that you like. Applications for the Prizes are now closed.

Howard Crew Scholarships

The Howard Crew Scholarships are for those wishing to apply to a BUNAC work exchange programme to North America but who may need some financial help in order to do so.

Every year three scholarships of up to £1000 each are awarded to those applicants who submit the best piece of humorous writing on a travel-related topic. The amount awarded will be credited towards the cost of taking part in one of BUNAC’s North America programmes in 2012.

We will start accepting applications for 2012 in January & the closing date will be in February 2012.