About IIE

Eligibility

The application for the IIE American Passport Project is an institutional application, not an individual one. The application can only be submitted by one institutional representative.

IIE will select support a diverse group of institutions, including community colleges, HBCUs, HSIs, MSIs, liberal arts colleges and universities and those with a demonstrated commitment to diversifying study abroad participation. Award recipients will be chosen by a competitive selection process, and selected institutions will submit nominated students for IIE’s review and approval. IIE will make grant payments to the selected institutions and the institution will be responsible for dispersing funds to students. 

Institutional Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible to apply for the IIE American Passport Project, institutions must be:

  • A U.S.-based higher education institution, and
  • A current IIENetwork member in good standing as of February 28, 2025.

Interested students should contact their campus study abroad office to inform the institutional representative of this opportunity that could support their students. Education associations and organizations are not eligible. Previous recipients of the IIE American Passport Project are not eligible at this time.

If you are not an IIENetwork member or are unsure of your membership status, please contact membership@iie.org.

Student Nomination Eligibility Criteria

Awarded institutions will identify and nominate students who meet the following eligibility criteria to receive the funding for their U.S. passport application fee. 

  • U.S. citizen
  • 18 years of age or older
  • Enrolled at the awarded institution
  • Pell Grant eligible. This includes students who are not currently receiving the Pell Grant, but meet its eligibility criteria.

Priorities for consideration of nominated students include: 

  • Students in their first year at your institution. This includes freshmen and transfer students regardless of their transferred credit hours.
  • Those who have not previously held an adult U.S. passport. This includes individuals who have expired child passports or passport cards.
  • Students who identify with any of these historically marginalized or traditionally underrepresented student populations in study abroad:
    • First-generation students (first in the family to attend or graduate from a college or university) 
    • Gender diverse students 
    • LGBTQIA+ students 
    • Non-traditional-age students 
    • Racial/ethnic minorities 
    • Students who have never traveled abroad 
    • Students with disabilities 
    • Students with demonstrated financial need 
    • Veterans
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