Bulgarian students among those receiving need-based financial aid at Stanford

The Kolio Ficheto Bulgarian Undergraduate Engineering and Science Student Scholarship Fund is one of a small, but growing number of scholarships available to Stanford students from outside the United States. Thanks to generous gifts like the one that created this scholarship, Stanford was able to provide financial aid to approximately half of the 493 international undergraduates who enrolled last year.

Named after a renowned 19th century master builder, the scholarship was established in 2008 to encourage more Bulgarian students to study science and engineering at Stanford. This year’s recipients, Lyuboslav Panchev, ’14, and Deyan Simeonov, ’12, hope Bulgarian students who wish to study in the United States will consider Stanford.

            “I think it is the perfect environment: freedom to explore a range of subjects, nice weather, great people, and at the same time it offers you a truly in-depth course of study,” says Panchev, a mathematics major from Sofia. In 2010, Panchev placed 35th out of more than 3,000 competitors in the prestigious William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition, administered by the Mathematical Association of America. After finishing his undergraduate studies, he hopes to earn a doctorate in mathematics.

Simeonov, a computer science major from Burgas, was surprised to learn that Stanford had a scholarship especially for Bulgarian students. “When I applied to Stanford, I knew two things had to happen: admission and a scholarship,” he says. “I want to say thank you for the opportunity to be here. Without scholarships, this wouldn’t be possible.” Simeonov also is a recipient of the Craig and Susan McCaw Scholarship for International Students, also made possible by a generous gift to Stanford. During his time at Stanford he’s had the opportunity to explore a variety of career options, and plans to go into quantitative finance after graduation.

Bulgarian nationals interested in attending Stanford can learn more about the application process from the Office of Undergraduate Admission. All scholarship recipients must first meet the qualifications for admission and demonstrate financial need.

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