The alumni of the Tibetan Scholarship Program

More than 450 alumni across thirty years, guiding the next cohort.

TSP alumni standing with U.S. Embassy and State Department program staff in a painted Tibetan hall
Alumni meet and greet with the U.S. Embassy in Delhi and the program officer from Washington, D.C., May 2025.

Who we are

The Tibetan Scholarship Program Alumni Association (TSPAA) was established with the primary purpose of strengthening the network between all the cohorts of the Tibetan Scholarship Program (TSP), providing them a platform to reach out to their peers along with assisting them in their various social endeavors.

With a cohort size exceeding 450 members, spread across more than thirty years, the TSP remains the most prestigious and influential scholarship for Tibetans, in India and Nepal, towards pursuing graduate studies in the United States.

About the association

TSP alumni and new cohort members posing together on a lit wooden staircase
An evening celebrating the TSP 2025 and 2026 cohorts, May 2025.

Words from alumni

“TSP was the gateway to achieve my dream of education. It has given me the courage and confidence to serve my community with efficiency, passion and pride. I will remain ever grateful to the government of the U. S. and its people and the US State government for the ‘gift of education’.

My education in the US at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), Cedar Falls, Iowa has been the most wonderful thing that could possibly happen to a Tibetan refugee woman. My education at UNI has provided me with a wide range of knowledge and skills that an educator needs today and challenged me to do my best. The quality of professors, the camaraderie of fellow classmates, and the safe and cooperative environment at UNI have made my UNI education experience a very fulfilling one.”

Dr. Pema Yangchen

“I believe TSP has made immense contribution to exile Tibetan community, and by extension the Tibetan movement at large. Many TSP alumni continue to serve in exile Tibetan institutions and organisations. Generally the importance of scholarships for deserving students cannot be overstated. But TSP assumes greater importance in that it provides support to young and dynamic Tibetans who are expected to serve their own community after completion of their studies. Over the years, TSP alumni have played an important role in the rejuvenation and sustainability of the Tibetan movement.”

Tsering Tsomo

“The Tibetan Scholarship Program which enables young Tibetans to pursue further studies in America is extremely useful in improving the capacity of the Tibetan exile community. I was one of the first to greatly benefit from this program way back 1988 when the program gave me a scholarship to study journalism at Columbia University from 1988 to 1989. The course I took at the Graduate School of Journalism greatly helped me to improve the quality and design of the Tibetan Bulletin which I edited for many years.”

Thupten Samphel

Watch the alumni interviews

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Sarita Vanka holding a gift and khata as TSPAA member Tenzin Kelsang la greets her with folded hands
TSPAA member Tenzin Kelsang la meets Sarita Vanka of the U.S. Senate.