The Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program covers full tuition at Boston College for 18 incoming first-year students a year, adds fully funded summer programmes, and guarantees on-campus housing for four years. Around 74 scholars are in the programme at any time.
Boston College answers the eligibility question directly: asked whether international students are eligible, it says yes, the award is a merit scholarship open to all applicants who apply by the 1 November deadline and meet the criteria. It also states that because the award covers full tuition regardless of financial need, no financial aid forms are required, which is what makes it reachable for students on an F-1 visa.
That matters more here than at most universities. Boston College states that it cannot provide need-based financial aid to students who are not US citizens or permanent residents, and that international students should be prepared to finance the full cost of their education. Gabelli is the university's only academic merit award, so for an international applicant it is the funding route, and it goes to 18 students out of the entire pool. One nuance: the programme says scholars whose merit award does not meet their financial need receive additional grant aid to meet full need, but that top-up is need-based aid the university says it cannot give non-citizens, so an international scholar should plan on tuition alone.
There is no separate application. Finalists are told with their admission offer by 1 February and flown to campus in mid-February at the university's expense for interviews. Scholars stay in the programme for four years on a 3.6 GPA.