Two former students are sending Aggies packing, from the classrooms of College Station to the Tuscan hills.

By Mary Vinnedge '75

Given today’s global economy, international experiences can give Aggies a career edge. Only 2.6 percent of Texas A&M students currently participate in study-abroad programs, however. Most cite financial need as the stumbling block,

Scott Roselius '87 '89 and Robert Holton '84 '89
because a semester outside the United States can cost nearly twice as much as one spent on the Texas A&M campus.

Texas A&M’s College of Architecture is the only college at A&M that requires juniors to spend a semester studying elsewhere. Students can participate in an internship, study at another U.S. university or study abroad. Only about 7 percent of them study abroad, but -- thanks to a scholarship -- Matt Ostermeier ’09 will be one of the lucky few.

The trip to Italy is Ostermeier’s first travel outside the United States, and he owes it to donors Robert Holton ’84 ’89 and Scott Roselius ’87 ’89, owners of Heights Venture Architects. They recently established a global study scholarship for an architecture student.

Ostermeier and his family could not have paid for the trip without the Heights Venture Scholarship; a fire destroyed the family’s home, belongings and business in Georgetown and devastated them financially. In fact, Ostermeier says he couldn’t have afforded to attend A&M at all without financial aid.

Holton and Roselius also studied in Italy as undergraduates. "That semester abroad was as valuable as the rest of my education," Holton says.

Matt Ostermeier '08
And Roselius says the enhanced cultural awareness that results from studying abroad is particularly important: "If I can help students in the architecture program become more culturally aware -- that’s what I want to do."

Creation of global study scholarships is a key goal of Operation Spirit and MindSM, a $300 million fundraising initiative for Texas A&M University being facilitated by the Texas A&M Foundation. The Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money for Texas A&M University’s academic and student leadership programs, began Operation Spirit and Mind Jan. 1, 2007. As of Dec. 31, 2008, just over $139 million in gifts had been tallied.

Donors who give a $25,000 endowed global study scholarship provide an Aggie with a one-time global-study award. And every year a new student is named to the scholarship, so donors support Aggies’ global experiences forever.

Learn more about Global Study Scholarships. Contact Jody Ford, director of development for scholarship programs, at (800) 392-3310 or j-ford@tamu.edu to learn how you can support Texas A&M students with the gift of a scholarship.