ILLUI Student Scholarships
WHO WE ARE
Illui Student Scholarships is a project in partnership with Robin Hood Israel Foundation and HaYoreh: First Rains that strives to assist young Israeli academics overcome the financial obstacles that keep them from studying higher education abroad.
The Problem
As Israeli Universities slip in international ranks due to severe budget cuts, the number of applicants to higher-ranking universities outside of Israel, particularly Ivy League and Oxbridge universities, has increased dramatically.
Despite many being accepted, the prohibitive costs of degrees at these universities mean few Israeli students can afford to study abroad as they do not qualify for American or British Student Aid. In addition, many banks are unwilling to lend internationally because they cannot price foreign risk or cannot track borrowers outside Israel. Furthermore, those students who can afford to go are already part of the economic elite, which serves to exacerbate the disparity between rich and poor within Israeli society.
Our Approach
The Average Columbia/Harvard Professional School American citizen student receives 35% financial aid and 65% long term loan financing. For almost all Israeli students accepted to top global universities, neither the financial aid nor the government loans are available. Illui Student Scholarships & Loans provide students with a viable option to finance their studies, in the form of American and UK style student scholarships and loans. The loans are collectively funded by a community of alumni, institutional investors and qualified private investors, and managed by .
In addition to our scholarships, the Illui program directs students to low interest education loans designed for Israeli scholars in the USA and UK, extended through various investment firms. These loans represent a mutually beneficial proposition: individual and institutional investors earn social returns by funding the leaders of tomorrow and competitive financial returns as represented by the difference in the interest earned on the loan versus the official interest rate (Treasury Rates or AAA Notes), while students gain access to higher education that would otherwise have been well beyond their reach. For investors, it is a marvelous social impact investment.