Beginning in Fall of 2017, international students attending the University of Wisconsin at Madison will be eligible for a brand new scholarship, thanks to a $36 million scholarship from two couples.

The King-Morgridge Scholars Program is a four-year scholarship for high achieving students from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast/South Asia, geared towards helping students improve the various issues that are affecting their home country.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, students awarded the scholarship will take part in internships, service learning projects and meet with alumni that are experts on poverty and international development. The idea is that students will take what they’ve learned from these experiences and apply them back home upon graduation, should they go back home.

UW Madison enrolls over 6,000 international students, according to a press release by the school. In addition to the 6,000 students, 2,200 students also study abroad annually and another 14,000 alumni are located globally.

Six scholarships will be awarded annually by the program. Tuition and fees, room and board on campus, airfare and more will be included, as well as a stipend for other expenses.

There are many conditions an applicant must meet in order to be considered for the scholarship program:

• Candidates must submit an undergraduate freshman application by the regular decision deadline and meet all of the regular application process requirements;

• List the country of citizenship within the five regions the program is geared for; and
• Address the commitment to working on poverty issues in the home region or country.

• Applicants for the scholarship will find out if if they have been awarded the scholarship once they are admitted. Financial need and other factors are also taken into consideration.

The King-Morgridge Scholars program is completely funded by two sets of donors, couples by the name of Robert and Dorothy King and John and Tashia Morgridge.

The Kings have given thousands of dollars for various programs on and off UW Madison’s campus. One of their most recent gifts was to Stanford University to establish a center at the Graduate School of Business named the Stanford Institute for Innovation.

On the other hand, the Morgridges have given a majority of the largest donations in UW’s history, according to the UW Madison News website. They have given $100 million for faculty chairs and for the Morgridge Institute for Research, as well as $32 million for an expansion and renovation of the School of Education building.