Good to know - thank you! I was just "googling" for potential answers and that reference to grants was one of the first ones that popped up. I'm really struggling to find the parts of the tax code that might otherwise apply to this situation. In particular, because this award is distributed to carry out a charitable project and in no way contributes to salary or payment for the student themselves (except incidentally, as providing means for them to arrive and stay at the host country while enacting the project), I'm surprised if it would simply count in the IRS's eyes as personal income without any caveats.
And no, the award has nothing to do with the student's education. It is entirely unrelated to their degree, except for the fact that to be considered for the award, the student had to be enrolled at a degree-granting institution that participates as a member in the foundation's award program.
It is an interesting thought, to report the funds in Schedule C; I hesitate, though, to advise any students to do this without there being a confirmed precedent for it. This award has existed for many years, and is distributed yearly to dozens of students across the U.S. I'll be a little surprised if there is not formal, well-established tax advice to be gathered on the topic, and am hoping to stumble upon it through at least one of the various sources to which I'm reaching out.
