Rotary International is sponsoring five scholarships totaling $96,000 for those interested in studying abroad during the 1998-99 academic year.

Applications are available through the Study Abroad Center, 10 Hamilton Hall and are due April 1.

Applicants need not be members of the Rotary Foundation to apply, but the United States must be the applicant’s home country.

Three Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarships, which can be up to $22,000 each, are offered to students for an academic year.

Applicants must have recently graduated or be a current graduate or undergraduate student to apply.

There are also scholarships for two or three years, but these are not being offered through Rotary District 6000, the district serving the Ames community.

Two grants are available for university teachers who wish to serve in developing countries. These grants are $10,000 for 3-5 months or $20,000 for 6-10 months.

Interested applicants can apply though Rotary District 6000 or though their hometown. Application due dates may be later for other chapters.

Applicants chosen at the local level are recommended to the committee at the district level, which then chooses the winners.

Dennis Peterson, a Rotary member who has served on the interviewing committee, said that the Rotary Foundation is a service organization that tries to bring together people from diverse circumstances.

Peterson also said the key to doing well during the interview process is for the students to do their homework on the Rotary Club and the country they wish to study. Leadership roles, foreign language experience, service involvement and academics are several areas of interest to the interviewing committee, Peterson said.

Rotary Scholars must study at a university in a town where there is a Rotary Club.

Last year, all three district winners were from ISU: Theaster Gates to South Africa, Blythe Burkhart to Nigeria, and Jill Ragee to Australia. They will study during the 1997-98 academic year.