The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is pleased to announce the opening of the 2025 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 2025 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 the 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 February 29, 2024, by 11:59 pm.

A. TSP APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS:

1. Applicants should be born on or after January 1, 1989. You must submit a copy of your birth certificate as 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 considered.
3. Competitive applicants should have scored a minimum 55% in their Bachelor’s degree.
4. Applicants who have completed or are pursuing 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 eligible TSP applicants will take the Institutional TOEFL test (ITP) the same day after the General Written Test in Tibetan (GWTT) in New Delhi and Bangalore. The TOEFL ITP test assesses applicants’ English language ability before they sit for the final interview. The applicants are required to score at least 550 on the TOEFL ITP test. Applicants who have secured the required score in the previous year’s test do not have to sit for the TOEFL ITP test, as the score report is valid for 2 years from the date the test was taken.
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 of the document verification process and the dates of the GWTT and TOEFL ITP test.
9. Applicants must secure a minimum of 30 points out of 50 on the GWTT to move to the next round of the selection process. The GWTT consists of multiple-choice questions and a section on translation. The test can be taken either in Tibetan or English.
10. The duration of the TOEFL ITP test is two hours and will be paper-based. To move to the next level of the selection process, an applicant must obtain at least a score of 550 on the TOEFL ITP.
11. The CTA DoE and The Tibet Fund expect to receive the ITP scores from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) within 30 days.
12. 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 points 10 and 11 to be considered eligible.
13. The CTA DoE will finalize a list of the top 30 applicants from the pool of qualified applicants. The top 30 applicants will be selected based on their Bachelor’s academic performance and passing the GWTT and TOEFL ITP test.
14. These final 30 applicants from India will be invited to sit for the final interview in Dharamsala, and final applicants from Nepal in Kathmandu will be coordinated by CTA DoE and TSP SSC Nepal.
15. The designated Public Diplomacy Officer will chair the final selection panel at the U.S. Embassy in India and Nepal for all the viable candidates nominated by the CTA’s DoE and the TSP Student Selection Committee (SSC) in Nepal.
16. After finalizing the interview marks, the panel will select approximately six candidates from India and one from Nepal, based on the strength of their applications and interviews.
17. The TSP Final Selection Panel will also develop a list of five alternate candidates from India and two from Nepal.
18. The six selected finalist applicants from India and the one selected from Nepal will take the TOEFL ibt test. To be accepted into the program, applicants must score 85 out of 120 on the TOEFL ibt. If any final applicants do not score 85, 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. 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.
20. 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 AND 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 you hope to achieve from it, and how you will contribute to your community upon your return.
3. IC and Travel Document: Candidates must produce a valid Identity Certificate (IC) or IC renewal receipt to be eligible for the program.
4. Green Book (GB) and Registration Certificate (RC)/Refugee Certificate (RC):
5. 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 March 2023. 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)
6. 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 till March 2023. 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 certify that the applicant is a Tibetan refugee residing in Nepal.  
7. Academic Certificates: Applicants must submit their college and university academic records (Degree, and Mark sheets).
8. S. Visa: Participants will apply for a J-1 Exchange visitor visa from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi or the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu as appropriate. Selection as a TSP candidate does not guarantee approval for a J-1 exchange visa. Applicants with 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.
9. No Objection Certificate: If you are working in an organization, you will need to submit a “No Objection Certificate” to apply for the scholarship.
10. Program: Applicants should choose one program of study from the following fields. The candidates are required to choose the nearest possible field of interest and also mention their specific field in case it’s not mentioned here. The fields of study specified below were identified by the Central Tibetan Administration (in consultation with the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy and the 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 Ø  Others

 

9. Application Deadline: Interested applicants are responsible for submitting all application materials and other relevant documents to their respective jurisdictions on or before Saturday, February 29, 2024, 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-selection will be administered by CTA’s DoE and the post-selection by the Tibet Fund in coordination with the U.S. Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Section in New Delhi, India.
11. Applicants from Nepal: Applicants must submit their application and all supporting documents to the TSP SSC Nepal, appointed to administer the TSP selection process in Nepal separately. TSP SSC Nepal will administer the pre and post-selection process of TSP Nepal candidates 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 calculate each eligible candidate’s total score. Please see the section below for details on the point system.
13. 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 Director – Tenzing Choephel Chumeego, at [email protected] or the CTA’s DoE Scholarship Section head – Sonam Sangmo La at [email protected]; [email protected] (9805688414/9882322797). For questions related to the TSP application process in Nepal, please email [email protected] or contact Doma La (9818255536)/ Tsering Topgyal La (9851046397) / Ms. Nima La (9808206979)

Find Application Form here: TSP 2025 application form.

Interested candidates from India must apply online using the Link, Click here        

Interested candidates from Nepal must apply online using the Link, Click here        

 

Posted by:

Department of Education

Central Tibetan Administration

Dharamsala, Distt Kangra

Himachal Pradesh

December 21, 2023