"Travel grants" are real, but they're nearly always tied to a purpose: study abroad, an academic conference presentation, a research field trip, a service program, or an international fellowship. There is no general federal "travel grant" you apply for to fund a vacation or personal trip. This page covers the legitimate programs and where to find them in 2026.
Federal study-abroad and international-exchange programs
Fulbright U.S. Student Program
The Fulbright Program, run by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, funds graduating seniors, graduate students, and recent alumni for a year of study, research, or English teaching abroad in 140+ countries. Awards cover travel, living, and program costs. See us.fulbrightonline.org and our Fulbright foundation grants page. Application deadlines run in early October each year.
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
The Gilman Scholarship provides up to $5,000 (with a $3,000 supplement for critical-need languages) for Pell Grant recipients to study or intern abroad for credit. Two application cycles per year.
Boren Awards
The Boren Awards fund undergraduates (up to $25,000) and graduate students (up to $30,000) for study of critical languages and regions, with a one-year federal-service commitment after graduation.
Critical Language Scholarship (CLS)
The State Department's CLS Program fully funds intensive summer study in 13 critical languages — including Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, Korean, and Persian — for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students.
NSEP, IIE, and DOS exchanges
The National Security Education Program (which administers Boren), IIE program portfolio, and other DOS exchanges including Critical Language Enhancement Awards, Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship, and Walter Cronkite Global Adventures in Journalism are worth searching.
Conference and research travel for graduate students and researchers
NSF travel-related funding
- NSF Conference and Workshop proposals — NSF funds organizers, who may then subsidize attendee travel.
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) — includes a travel allowance.
- Individual NSF research grants — typically include conference travel for the PI and supported students within the budget.
See nsf.gov/funding and the NSF PAPPG for specifics.
NIH travel
NIH allows reasonable travel costs on funded research grants and fellowships (NIH Grants Policy Statement). Some NIH conference grants (R13) support meeting costs that may include travel subsidies for trainees.
Department of Education research and IES grants
IES grants may include funding for project-related travel for principal investigators and research staff.
Professional society and foundation travel grants
Most discipline-specific societies offer member travel awards for their annual meetings. Examples:
- American Chemical Society — student travel grants to ACS meetings.
- American Physical Society — DPF/DPB student travel awards.
- American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) — minority and women in cancer research scholar awards (travel + registration).
- American Sociological Association — Travel Awards Program.
- Modern Language Association (MLA) — travel grants for graduate students presenting.
- Society for Neuroscience — Trainee Professional Development Awards.
Check your professional society's website and apply 3–6 months before the meeting.
Service, internship, and short-term programs
- Peace Corps — not a grant, but transportation, training, living stipend, and a readjustment allowance (currently ~$12,000+) are fully covered for two-year service.
- AmeriCorps VISTA, NCCC, and State and National — domestic service with travel and living allowances.
- DOE/NSF/NASA summer internships — student programs that cover travel and housing.
Field-research travel for students
- National Geographic Society Explorer grants — research, conservation, and education travel awards.
- Wenner-Gren Foundation — anthropology dissertation field work.
- Social Science Research Council (SSRC) International Dissertation Research Fellowship.
- American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) — humanities and social-sciences research fellowships.
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine fellowships — postdoctoral travel and research.
How to apply
- Match the program to the trip. Each program funds a defined purpose (study, research, conference, service); generic personal-travel applications won't get funded.
- Start early. Fulbright, Boren, and CLS deadlines are 8–12 months before departure. Conference travel awards usually have deadlines 2–6 months before the event.
- Work with your campus advisors. Most undergraduate programs (Fulbright, Gilman, Boren, CLS) require institutional endorsement and a campus advisor.
- Tailor the proposal. Each program has specific selection criteria; copy-pasting a generic personal statement is the most common reason applications fail.
- Budget honestly. Reviewers prefer realistic, itemized budgets to inflated round numbers.
There is no application fee for any federal travel program (Fulbright, Gilman, Boren, CLS, NSF, NIH). Companies charging fees to "secure" a federal travel grant or "process your study-abroad funding" are scams. Report scams to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Common questions
Is there a federal grant to pay for personal or family travel? No. The federal government does not fund leisure or family travel. The only travel-related federal aid for individuals goes through specific programs (Fulbright, Gilman, Boren, Peace Corps, military) tied to study, service, or research.
Can a Pell Grant cover study-abroad costs? Yes, in many cases. If you study abroad through your home institution or an approved program, your Pell Grant typically continues. Combine it with the Gilman Scholarship if you're Pell-eligible — Gilman is designed exactly for that.
How do graduate students fund conference travel? Through the advisor's grant, departmental travel awards, professional society travel grants, and conference-organizer student travel subsidies. Ask the conference organizers — many have student travel funds that aren't widely advertised.
Are travel grants taxable? Travel awards used for required travel as part of an educational or research program may be excludable from income; cash stipends typically are not. Keep receipts and consult IRS Publication 970 or a tax professional.