All The Rooms, the world’s largest accommodations metasearch site, has recently established a new study abroad scholarship for Robert Morris University students.

The company is offering a $1,000 scholarship called the Room to Travel Scholarship to help students pay for study abroad programs.

“Our organization is staffed by travelers, representing countries from three different continents, that appreciate the benefits of travel. Therefore, we have made it our mission to promote youth travel by offering monetary aid to help students fund their travels,” said All The Rooms Community Outreach Manager, Victor Bosselaar in a press release.

The scholarship will be awarded to the student with the winning essay on the topic of what inspires him or her to travel.

“Money has a big factor in getting to study abroad but getting a scholarship of a thousand dollars is a thousand dollars less than what you need to get,” said Carl Ross, university professor of Nursing, about the Room to Travel Scholarship.

Apart from the Room to Travel Scholarship, there are multiple other ways to receive the money to study abroad at RMU through sponsorships from local companies and churches.

When an RMU student decides to study abroad, their tuition is paid to RMU but their room and board is paid to the university they are going to be studying at.

“Sometimes the places abroad are cheaper than RMU,” said Jennifer Creamer, director of Center for Global Engagement.

RMU also is a university that allows aid to be used abroad at international universities.

“If you let the money paralyze you, you’re going to lose out on an opportunity,” said Ross.

RMU encourages students to take the opportunity to study abroad.

“I think (studying abroad) is a great way to open your perspective on things,” said Creamer.

Students who have always lived in the United States are given the chance to see another way of living when studying in other countries.

“I think every student would benefit,” said Ross about the chance to study abroad. “I think every student on campus should do a study abroad experience.”

Ross has been on 95 trips with classes studying abroad to Nicaragua as well as Mexico and China. Ross and community health nursing students travel to Nicaragua every year to set up clinics in communities where students get the chance to see and treat patients.

“Study abroad programs give the student an opportunity to travel when they might not have had the inclination, or the support staff, to do so previously,” said Bosselaar. “By engaging with different cultures, viewpoints, and social structures, students develop an outlook that prevents divisiveness and promotes empathy; which is increasingly important in today’s world.”

RMU offers multiple types of study abroad programs for all five schools at the university including Faculty-Led Education Abroad Programs (FLEAPs), Affiliated Semester Abroad Programs, Other Summer Abroad Programs and Intern Abroad.

“I always tell students ‘You have eight semesters to be a student and that’s really the time to study abroad,’” said Creamer.

“We hope that every RMU student, and students across all U.S. universities, take the opportunity to travel through their study abroad programs,” said Bosselaar. “The effects may only be realized later in life, but no monetary value can be placed on the benefits of an RMU study abroad experience.”

According to a press release from All The Rooms, “Scholarship submission is eligible to students currently enrolled in or intend to enroll in a study abroad program for the 2017-2018 academic year at Robert Morris. Deadline for essay submissions is August 1, 2017 and awarded funds will be distributed prior to the Fall Semester start date. Students can submit their essays on the Room to Travel Scholarship site.”