Stephen and Nita Lowey launch scholarship fund to support SIT Graduate students

February 27th, 2017   |   SIT Graduate Institute

A $500,000 gift from longtime institutional supporters Stephen and Nita Lowey will make it financially possible for more students to participate in SIT Graduate Institute programs starting this fall.

Stephen Lowey is a chair emeritus trustee of World Learning and Nita Lowey is a member of Congress from New York. They have pledged $100,000 per year over five years through the Stephen and Nita Lowey SIT Graduate Institute Scholarship Fund to support needs-based scholarships for students enrolled in master’s degree programs starting in fall 2016.

Through its experiential educational model, SIT Graduate Institute prepares students for careers in international development and teaching. They will become leaders meeting global humanitarian challenges and strong forces for good in the world,” said Stephen Lowey. “Nita and I are proud to support them as they join a worldwide network of individuals and organizations promoting responsible citizenship and peace.”

SIT President Donald Steinberg said, “Steve and Nita Lowey’s gift represents a powerful investment by smart philanthropists in the future of SIT’s experiential graduate education, and sets a path for an even stronger, more impactful tomorrow.”

SIT Graduate Institute offers master’s degrees in sustainable development; peacebuilding and conflict transformation; international education; intercultural service, leadership, and management; and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). It also offers certificates in international education, conflict transformation, and inclusive security.

SIT Graduate Institute and its sister program, SIT Study Abroad, comprise the School for International Training (SIT), based in Brattleboro. SIT is the accredited academic institution of World Learning, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advances leadership through education, exchange, and development programs in more than 60 countries. World Learning was founded in 1932 as The Experiment in International Living. The Experiment today provides summer abroad programs for high school students.

Stephen Lowey first became involved with World Learning in 1952, when he joined an Experiment trip to France and several years later led a group there. He held a World Learning trusteeship from 1986 to 2000 and was board chairman from 1997 to the end of his term. In 2000, he was named chair emeritus and received The Experiment Citation Award.

Stephen oversaw creation of the first scholarships for the Experiment, which today provides more financial aid than any other high school international program. He also helped fund the Experiment Leadership Institute, a scholarship program for young people to develop leadership skills and study public health in India or human rights in South Africa.