The $165 expense of passport applications will soon be covered for 100 Cal Poly students in the International Center’s annual Passport Event.
The deadline to apply for funding is Dec. 5. Students must have their application documents at the ready no later than Feb. 15, 2025.
The fourth annual Passport Event will be held on March 5, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Advanced Technologies Laboratory (BLDG. 7) Keck Lab.
Applicants must be United States citizens, 18 years or older and full-time undergraduate students with at least one year remaining at Cal Poly. Additionally, applicants must not have previously held a passport.
This event is also open to faculty and staff interested in obtaining a new or renewed passport.
Preference will be given to students applying for the 2025 CIEE Douglass-O’Connell Summer Global Internship Program.
Funding is limited to 100 passports, but applicants unable to get the documents required for the application can join the waitlist. Students must provide a photocopy of their proof of identity and United States citizenship documents.
Stacey Shimizu, assistant director of the International Center, urged students to gather required documents even if they are on the waitlist, as funding might become available.
“We initiated this event both to help facilitate the application by bringing the process on campus and to help offset the cost for students with financial need,” Shimizu said.
Funding is made possible through a partnership with the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), one of Cal Poly’s study abroad partners, as they fund half of the 100 passports provided.
Assistant Vice Provost Cari Vanderkar works with Cal Poly’s six academic colleges to offer matching funds to cover the other 50 passports, Shimizu said.
International Center staff coordinate with United States Postal Service to bring in six to eight agents to campus for the March event, where students who receive funding will have an appointment to submit their passport applications to an agent.
“Having that passport in hand allows students to take advantage of other international opportunities at Cal Poly beyond studying abroad—like attending an international conference with a faculty member, participating in an international service-learning project, or traveling abroad for a week of field study as part of a class,” Shimizu said.
