The Commission for Educational Exchange between the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
is located in Brussels, Belgium, with the office situated at the Royal Library Albert I.
It is a not-for profit organization that is responsible for administering Fulbright grants for citizens of Belgium and Luxembourg. It also serves as the
EducationUSA
EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State network of international student advising centers in more than 170 countries. EducationUSA is officially a branch in the Office of Global Educational Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Af ...
Advising Center in Belgium.
Global Fulbright
The
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the United States State Department. It was created with legislation introduced by U.S. Senator
J. William Fulbright
James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest serving chair ...
in 1946. The goal of the program is to increase a mutual understanding and cultural awareness between students and researchers in the United States and those abroad. To administer the program, bi-national Fulbright commissions were established in each partner country (e.g.
Fulbright Austria The Austrian-American Educational Commission/ Fulbright Austria (AAEC) is one of the 50 bi-national commissions under the Fulbright Program, which exists in order to promote “mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the peo ...
,
Franco-American Fulbright Commission, etc.).
Fulbright Belgium's Programs and Scholarships
The Fulbright Commission in Belgium, established in 1948, administers several scholarship programs for citizens of Belgium and Luxembourg. Grants are available for graduate studies, pre- and post-doctoral research, or university lecturing in the United States. There is also a program for language teaching assistants at the university level and a summer program in American Studies for secondary school English teachers. American citizens seeking a Fulbright award for research, study, or teaching in the United States can also contact the Belgian commission for information.
The Commission offers approximately 50 scholarships for study, teaching, and research to citizens of Belgium and Luxembourg or European Union Nationals residing in Belgium or Luxembourg. Approximately 20 grants are also available for U.S. citizens for study, teaching, or research in Belgium. Special scholarships for study in business, law, science, technology, engineering, and journalism are also available. Candidates for the Commission's grants to the United States must hold a post-secondary degree and have achieved outstanding results. Candidates' for the Commission's grants to Belgium or Luxembourg must be American citizens and cannot be living in Belgium or Luxembourg at the time of their application.
Notable alumni of the Fulbright Commission in Belgium and Luxembourg include economist
Austan Goolsbee
Austan Dean Goolsbee (born August 18, 1969) is an American economist and writer. He is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. , Belgian politician
Alexander De Croo
Alexander De Croo (born 3 November 1975) is a Belgian politician and businessman who has served as the prime minister of Belgium since October 2020.
De Croo was born in Vilvoorde, Flemish Brabant, and studied business engineering at the Vrije ...
, Luxembourgish politician
Luc Frieden
Luc Frieden (born 16 September 1963) is a Luxembourgish politician, lawyer, and business executive. He has held several posts in the cabinet of Luxembourg, including as Minister for Justice (1998–2009), Minister for Defence (2004–2006), and ...
, pianist Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort, Belgian diplomat
Johan Verbeke
Johan Verbeke (born 9 July 1951) is a Belgian diplomat, the former Belgian Ambassador to the United States until 2016.
Early life
Verbeke holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the Yale Law School and a Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Européen ...
, President of the European Court of Justice
Koen Lenaerts
Koen Lenaerts, Baron Lenaerts (; born 20 December 1954 in Mortsel) is a Belgian jurist and the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union. He is also a Professor of European Law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and was a member ...
, and American religious scholar
Ralph McInerny
Ralph Matthew McInerny (February 24, 1929 – January 29, 2010) was an American author and philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame. McInerny's most popular mystery novels featured Father Dowling, and was later adapted into the '' ...
.
Fulbright Schuman Program
The Commission for Education Exchange between the United States, Belgium, and Luxembourg also administers the Fulbright Schuman Program. The program grants scholarships for scholars to research and/or study (at the post-graduate level)
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
affairs or U.S.-EU relations. The program is open to citizens of all 27 European Union member states as well as American citizens with two years of relevant experience. The program is co-funded by the United States State Department and the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission.
EducationUSA Advising Center
The Commission also hosts the EducationUSA Advising Center in Brussels. The Advising Center is one of a network of over 450 centers around the world. The mission of EducationUSA is to actively promote U.S. higher education throughout the world. EducationUSA Advising Centers offer complete, unbiased, accurate, and timely information about educational institutions and opportunities in the United States as well as guidance to qualified students as to how best access those opportunities. Each year millions of students and parents access the services of EducationUSA.
The Advising Center in Brussels, Belgium also offers information to U.S. higher education institutions who are looking to expand their international education offerings through student recruitment or expansion of study abroad, exchange, and internship programs.
The Commission’s Educational Advising Center is open to people of all nationalities living or working in Europe. The Center provides information about the full range of accredited U.S. higher education institutions. Advice is available for students seeking admission to secondary, undergraduate or graduate level studies as well as professional programs and intensive English courses. Materials from U.S. institutions as well as guide books that help prospective students understand the American higher education system, admissions requirements, application procedures and financial aid options are available at the Commission. The Advising Center also provides a weekly newsletter that gives information to those searching about scholarship, grants, and other opportunities that European students may be interested in during their search for higher education in the United States. While the primary focus is American higher education, some information about primary and secondary education, youth exchange programs and internships are also available.
Some of the services available at the Advising Center are:
* Details and application forms for Fulbright Scholarships
* Advice and information about Undergraduate, Graduate, and professional studies
* Assistance with selecting institutions, preparing applications, writing personal statements, and preparing for departure to the U.S.
* Certification of translations of academic documents needed for admission
* Registration information for standardized admissions tests, including the
TOEFL
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ) is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by more than 11,000 universities a ...
,
IELTS
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS ), is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia an ...
,
GRE
The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States and Canada and a few other countries. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Servi ...
,
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
, and
GMAT
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT ( ())) is a computer adaptive test (CAT) intended to assess certain analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English for use in admission to a graduate management ...
* Preparation materials and practice books for admissions tests
* Reference guides for finding English language programs across the United States
* Lists of organizations that offer youth exchange programs and internship opportunities
* General information about obtaining student and scholar visas to the United States. Note: All formal visa applications are processed by the Consular Section of the United States Embassy to Belgium
Events
![Brussels College Night 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Brussels_College_Night_2016.jpg)
The Commission's advising center is also responsible for coordinating, organizing and sponsoring various events throughout the year to provide more information to students on how to go about applying for universities and colleges in the United States. Since 1984, the Commission has coordinated Brussels College Night, the largest U.S.-focused college fair in Belgium. This annual event welcomes representatives from American colleges and universities as well as other institutions of higher learning.
[Brussels College Night , Fulbright.Be http://www.fulbright.be/about-fulbright/brussels-college-night/]
More information about the Commission, applying to schools in the U.S., different degree programs, and specific schools is available via education videos on the Commission’
Youtube channel The Belgium Commission can also be found o
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Twitter
References
{{reflist
Scholarships in Belgium
Belgium–United States relations