The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established the Gates Cambridge Scholarships with a $210 million endowment in 2000 to enable outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to study at the University of Cambridge. The awardees are given funding for postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge in England for at least one year, but no more than four. The award includes all tuition costs, a maintenance allowance and a discretionary spending allowance for study related activities. The first scholars arrived at Cambridge in October 2001.