The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is pleased to announce the opening of the 2023 Tibetan Scholarship Program (TSP). The TSP, sponsored by ECA, is administered through a Cooperative Agreement with The Tibet Fund (TTF), and implemented in collaboration with the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) Department of Education (DoE), the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India and the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal. Approximately six (6) applicants from India and one (1) from Nepal will be selected to participate in the 2023 TSP. Applications will be accepted from eligible Tibetan refugees residing in India and Nepal to pursue up to two-year master’s degree programs in the United States, pending availability of funds and the ability to receive a J-1 visa. The application is available below.   The deadline to apply for the TSP is March 31, 2022, by 11:59 pm.

A. TSP APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS:

1. Applicants should be born on or after January 1, 1987. You are required to submit a copy of your birth certificate as a proof of your age.
2. Applicants must have completed at least four years of academic work after Class XII, including a three-year Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university. The fourth year can be your Bachelor of Education credentials or your first year Master’s degree academic credential. Partial computer courses, vocational training and diplomas from recognized academic institutions in India and Nepal will be taken into consideration.
3. Competitive applicants should have scored a minimum score of 55% in their Bachelor’s degree.
4. Applicants who have completed or are pursuing a M. Phil / Ph. D degree are not eligible for the TSP.
5. Applicants are not required to submit Class X and XII academic credentials.
6. During the pre-selection process TSP applicants will not be required to submit TOEFL scores.
7. The TSP applicants will take the Institutional TOEFL test (ITP) on the same day after the General Written Test in Tibetan (GWTT) in New Delhi and Bangalore. The TOEFL ITP test aims to assess the applicant’s English language ability before they sit for the final interview.
8. Once the required academic credentials and other criteria are fulfilled, the CTA’s DoE and Tibetan Scholarship Program Selection Committee (TSP SSC) in Nepal will notify the respective applicants for document verification process and the dates of the GWTT and TOEFL ITP test.
9. The venue for the reporting and document verification of the applicants will be notified by CTA DoE and TSP SSC staff via e-mail and telephone call. There will multiple venues in India for document verification, GWTT and TOEFL ITP test. The exact location will be confirmed by the CTA DoE and TSP SSC Nepal after the application deadline.
10. Applicants must secure a minimum of 30 points out of 50 on the GWTT in order to move to the next level. The GWTT consists of multiple-choice questions and a section of translation. The test can be taken either in Tibetan or English.
11. The duration of the TOEFL ITP test is two hours and will be paper based. In order to move to the next level of the selection process, an applicant has to obtain an approximate score of 550 on TOEFL ITP.
12. The CTA DoE and The Tibet Fund expect to receive the ITP scores from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) within 30 days.
13. No points will be assigned to the GWTT and TOEFL ITP tests for the selection process, but the applicants must pass with the minimum scores as stated in point 12 and 13.
14. The CTA DoE will finalize a list of the top 30 applicants from the total pool of qualified applicants. The top 30 applicants will be selected based on their Bachelor’s academic performance and passing of the GWTT and TOEFL ITP test.
15. These final 30 applicants from India will be invited to sit for the final interview in Dharamsala and final applicants from Nepal in Kathmandu coordinated by CTA DoE and TSP SSC Nepal.
16. The final selection panel will be chaired by the designated Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassies in India and Nepal for all the viable candidates nominated by the CTA’s DoE and the TSP Student Selection Committee (SSC) in Nepal.
17. After finalizing the interview markings, the panel will select approximately six candidates from India, and one from Nepal, based on their total application and interview.
18. The six selected applicants and the one selected from Nepal will take the TOEFL ibt. To be accepted in the program, applicants must score 85 out of 120 in the TOEFL ibt. If any of the final applicants do not score 85 on TOEFL ibt, the next alternate applicant will be called upon to take the TOEFL ibt test. We encourage the alternate candidates to take the TOEFL ibt, in the event a selected candidate is not able to participate in the program.
19. The TSP Final Selection Panel will develop a list of five alternate candidates from India and 2 from Nepal.
20. While taking the TOEFL, the applicants are requested to notify ETS to forward a copy of the score to the Tibet Fund by using the TTF’s institutional code 9892.
21. The final selected participants will be required to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) as determined by their field of study and the graduate program requirements of the U.S. host institutions to which they apply.

 

B. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS & CRITERIA FOR AWARDING SCHOLARSHIP:

1. Photo:   Applicants must attach a passport size photo on the TSP Application Form
2. Resume and a Short Essay: The applicant must submit a copy of his/her resume and a short essay, no more than 500-700 words, explaining why you are applying for the Tibetan Scholarship Program (TSP), what do you hope to achieve from it, and how you will contribute to your community upon your return.
3. IC and Travel Document: Candidates must have IC valid till January 31, 2026 to be eligible for the program.

4. Green Book (GB) and Registration Certificate (RC)/Refugee Certificate (RC):

• TSP Applicants in India: The applicant must have a valid Green Book (GB) and a valid Registration Certificate (RC). The applicant and his/her parents’ Green Book contribution must be paid till 2020. All information about RC, GB and the reasons – if parents are in Tibet/separated/deceased – must be mentioned in “Form-A” and duly attested by the concerned Tibetan Settlement Officer. (upload duly filled Form-A)
• TSP Applicants in Nepal: The applicant must have a valid Green Book (GB) and a valid Refugee Certificate (RC). The applicant and his/her parents’ Green Book contribution must be paid till 2020. Applicants whose parents are in Tibet, separated or deceased, must provide a letter from the concerned Tibetan Settlement Officer stating this. Those who do not have an RC, must submit one of their parents’ RCs with the applicant’s name stated in the document. In addition, a letter from the appropriate Tibetan Settlement Officer must be furnished certifying that the applicant is a Tibetan refugee residing in Nepal.  

5. Academic Certificates: Applicants must submit their college and university academic records (Degree, and Mark sheets).
6. S. Visa: Participants will be applying for a J-1 Exchange visitor visa from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi or U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu as appropriate. Selection as a TSP candidate does not guarantee approval for a J-1 exchange visa. Applicants who have prior visa denials from the U.S. Embassy must inform The Tibet Fund, the CTA’s DoE and the Tibetan Student Selection Committee in Nepal.
7. No Objection Certificate: If you are working in an organization, you will need to submit a “No Objection Certificate” to apply for the scholarship.
8. Program: Applicants should choose one program of study from the following fields. The fields of study specified below were identified based on the needs of the Tibetan community by the Central Tibetan Administration (in consultation with the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs).

Fields of Study

Ø  Computer Science	Ø  Education	Ø  Environmental Studies
Ø  International law	Ø  Journalism	Ø  Library Science and Information
Ø  MBA	Ø  Neuroscience	Ø  Public Health
Ø  Intelligence Science	Ø  International Relations	Ø  Gender Studies
Ø  Psychology	Ø  Science	Ø  Economics

 

9. Application Deadline: Interested applicants are responsible for submitting all application materials and other relevant documents to their respective jurisdictions on or before Saturday; March 31, 2022 by 11:59 pm. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
10. Applicants from India: Applicants must apply online using the online application link and upload all the required documents in PDF format before the deadline. The CTA’s Department of Education (DoE) will administer the TSP selection process in India separately. The pre and post selection will be administered by CTA’s DoE and the Tibet Fund in coordination with the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section in New Delhi, India.
11. Applicants from Nepal: Applicants must submit their application and all supporting documents to the TSP SSC Nepal, who has been appointed to administer the TSP selection process in Nepal separately. The pre and post selection of TSP Nepal candidates will be administered by TSP SSC Nepal under the direction of The Tibet Fund in coordination with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal.
12. Points System: The following scoring system will be used to calculate each short-listed candidate’s total score. Please see section below for details on the point system.

a)  Academic Performance with maximum allotted points of 10

Academic Performance in Bachelor’s Program (Percentage scored)	Allotted points
55-59	2
60-64	3
65-69	4
70-74	5
75-79	6
80-84	7
85-89	8
90-94	9
95-100	10

If you have any questions regarding the Tibetan Scholarship Program (TSP), please send your queries to the attention of the Tibet Fund’s TSP Program Coordinator – Tenzing Choephel Chumeego at [email protected] or the CTA’s DoE Scholarship Section head – Sonam Sangmo at [email protected];  [email protected]. For questions related to the TSP application process in Nepal, please contact Tsering Topgyal at [email protected]

Interested candidates from India must apply online using the link below:

https://forms.gle/KBum8yYxqk5mkiwd6

Find Application Form here: TSP 2023 application form.

Department of Education Scholarship Section CTA’s Department of Education Gangchen Kyishong Dharamsala, 176215 Distt. Kangra, H.P. India Tel: 01892-226695, 222721, 222572 [email protected] [email protected]

Tsering Topgyal TSP Student Selection Committee (SSC) Snow Lion Foundation PO Box no. 1313 Kathmandu, NEPAL Tel: +977-1-5000036/5000002 [email protected]

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