The Campoamor Scholarships are named in honor of Joseph A. Campoamor, former professor and chairman of Modern Languages, who provided in his will for a trust fund "to provide loans and scholarships for worthy students of Georgia Tech."
In 1986, the Department of Modern Languages received the original authorization to use these Campoamor funds in the form of grants, to be known as the Campoamor Scholarships, which would underwrite a portion of the costs for qualified Georgia Tech students studying abroad. At that time the University System of Georgia was administering a cluster of foreign study programs (USG Studies Abroad), which later became the International Intercultural Studies Program (IISP). Georgia Tech students in these programs were the first to receive Campoamor Scholarships.
A few years later the IISP program was discontinued, and its study-abroad programs were handed over to individual units of the University System, to be administered separately. Georgia Tech students in these programs continue to be eligible for Campoamor Scholarships. In addition, Modern Languages initiated its own summer institutes in Language for Business and Technology (LBAT) in several languages, each of which contains a travel abroad component. In 1993, the Department received further permission to award Campoamor Scholarships to students in these LBAT study-abroad programs, as well as the university system programs.
The Campoamor Scholarships are awarded in the Spring semester by the School of Modern Languages to students participating in the study abroad LBAT programs. Amounts vary from year to year. Students seeking to qualify must meet certain academic criteria and must be accepted by an approved study-abroad program. Applications are available from Modern Language faculty during the Spring semester.
The deadline for submitting completed applications is March 31 each year.