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 the United States and other countries through the mutual exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. The program was founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946, and has been considered as one of the most prestigious scholarships in the United States.

Via the program, competitively selected American citizens including students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists may receive scholarships or grants to study, conduct research, teach, or exercise their talents abroad; and citizens of other countries may qualify to do the same in the United States. The program provides approximately 8,000 grants annually, comprising roughly 1,600 grants to U.S. students, 1,200 to U.S. scholars, 4,000 to foreign students, 900 to foreign visiting scholars, and several hundred to teachers and professionals.

The Fulbright Program is administered by cooperating organizations such as the Institute of International Education and operates in over 160 countries around the world. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State sponsors the Fulbright Program and receives funding from the United States Congress via annual appropriation bills. Additional direct and in-kind support comes from partner governments, foundations, corporations, and host institutions both in and outside the U.S. In 49 countries, a bi-national Fulbright Commission administers and oversees the Fulbright Program. In countries that have an active program but no Fulbright Commission, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. embassy oversees the Fulbright Program. More than 370,000 people have participated in the program since it began; 62 Fulbright alumni have been awarded for a Nobel Prize; 88 have won Pulitzer Prizes.

On June 11, 2025 the Fulbright Program board voted unanimously to resign, citing political interference from the administration of President Donald Trump.

History

In 1945, Senator J. William Fulbright proposed a bill to use the proceeds from selling surplus U.S. government war property to fund international exchange between the U.S. and other countries. With the crucial timing of the aftermath of the Second World War and with the pressing establishment of the United Nations, the Fulbright Program was an attempt to promote peace and understanding through educational exchange. The bill devised a plan to forgo the debts foreign countries amassed during the war in return for funding an international educational program. It was through the belief that this program would be an essential vehicle to promote peace and mutual understanding between individuals, institutions and future leaders wherever they may be.

In August 1946, Congress created the Fulbright Program in what became the largest education exchange program in history. The program was expanded by the Mutual Educational And Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, known as Fulbright–Hays Act. It made possible participation in international fairs and expositions, including trade and industrial fairs; translations; funding for American studies programs; funds to promote medical, scientific, cultural, and educational research and development; and modern foreign language training.

The program operates on a bi-national basis; each country has entered into an agreement with the U.S. government. The first countries to sign agreements were China in 1947 and Burma, the Philippines, and Greece in 1948.

In March 2024, the Russian government declared the Institute of International Education (IIE) and Cultural Vistas as "undesirable" in Russia. This decision effectively ended the Fulbright Program, which had been established in the USSR during the 1973–74 academic year.

In February 2025, the Trump administration initiated a funding freeze on State Department programs, including the Fulbright Program, disrupting financial support for thousands of scholars.  The suspension impacted over 19,000 participants. In June, all members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned to protest alleged political interference by the administration.

Program

The Fulbright Program exchanges scholars and students with numerous countries in bilateral partnerships managed by commissions for each country. It provides funding for U.S. persons to visit other countries in the U.S. Student Program, U.S. Scholar Program, Teacher Exchange Program, and others, and enables foreign nationals to visit the United States in programs such as the Foreign Student Program, Visiting Scholar Program, Teacher Exchange Program.

Candidates recommended for Fulbright grants have high academic achievement, a compelling project proposal or statement of purpose, demonstrated leadership potential, and flexibility and adaptability to interact successfully with the host community.

Fulbright grants are awarded in almost all academic disciplines, except clinical medical research involving patient contact. Fulbright grantees' fields of study span the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, natural and physical sciences, and professional and applied sciences.

Student grants

* The Fulbright Degree Program funds graduate education for international students wanting to study in the United States. Students apply for the scholarship in their home country and after a long process, they can pursue a Masters or Ph.D. program in the United States.
* The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships for U.S. graduating college seniors, graduate students, young professionals, and artists to research, study, or teach English abroad for one academic year. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others' viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. The application period opens in the spring of each year. Since the inaugural class in 1949, Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Columbia, and Michigan have been the top producers of U.S. Student Program scholars. Michigan has been the leading producer since 2005.

* The Fulbright Foreign Student Program enables graduate students, young professionals, and artists from abroad to conduct research and study in the United States. Some scholarships are renewed after the initial year of study.
* The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program provides opportunities for young English teachers from overseas to refine their teaching skills and broaden their knowledge of U.S. culture and society while strengthening the instruction of foreign languages at colleges and universities in the United States.
* The International Fulbright Science and Technology Award, a component of the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, supports doctoral study at leading U.S. institutions in science, technology, engineering or related fields for outstanding foreign students. This program is currently on hiatus.
* The Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships award up to four U.S. students the opportunity to study the power of music as a cultural force abroad. Fellows conduct research for one academic year on projects of their own design about a chosen musical aspect. They share their experiences during their Fulbright year via video reports, blogs, and podcasts.
* The Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship provides the opportunity for U.S. students to serve in professional placements in foreign government ministries or institutions to gain hands-on public sector experience in participating foreign countries.
* The Fulbright Schuman Program awards scholarships to American citizens for research in the European Union with a focus on EU affairs/policy, or the US-EU transatlantic agenda.

Scholar grants

* The Fulbright Distinguished Chair Awards comprise approximately forty distinguished lecturing, distinguished research and distinguished lecturing/research awards ranging from three to 12 months. Fulbright Distinguished Chair Awards are viewed as among the most prestigious appointments in the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program. Candidates should be eminent scholars and have a significant publication and teaching record.
*The Fulbright Bicentennial Chair in American Studies at the University of Helsinki brings scholars of various disciplines to Finland. The Bicentennial Chair is open to senior faculty with outstanding publication and teaching credentials and is also considered to be among the most prestigious Fulbright appointments.
* The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends U.S. faculty members, scholars, and professionals abroad to lecture or conduct research for up to a year.
* The Fulbright Specialist Program sends U.S. academics and professionals to serve as expert consultants on curriculum, faculty development, institutional planning, and related subjects at overseas institutions for a period of two to six weeks.
* The Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program and Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program bring foreign scholars to lecture or conduct post-doctoral research for up to a year at U.S. colleges and universities.
* The Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS) Program is a network of junior scholars, professionals, and mid-career applied researchers from the United States, Brazil, Canada, and other Western Hemisphere nations in a year-long program that includes multi-disciplinary, team-based research, a series of three seminar meetings, and a Fulbright exchange experience.

Teacher grants

The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program supports one-to-one exchanges of teachers from K–12 schools and a small number of post-secondary institutions.

The Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching Program sends teachers abroad for a semester to pursue individual projects, conduct research, and lead master classes or seminars.

Grants for professionals

The Hubert H. Humphrey Program brings outstanding mid-career professionals from the developing world and societies in transition to the United States for one year. Fellows participate in a non-degree program of academic study and gain professional experience.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends American scholars and professionals abroad to lecture or conduct research for up to a year.

The Fulbright Specialist Program sends U.S. faculty and professionals to serve as expert consultants on curriculum, faculty development, institutional planning, and related subjects at overseas academic institutions for a period of two to six weeks.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships for U.S. graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to study abroad for one academic year. The Program also includes an English Teaching Assistant component.

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program enables graduate students, young professionals and artists from abroad to conduct research and study in the United States. Some scholarships are renewed after the initial year of study.

Fulbright–Hays Program

The Fulbright–Hays Program is a component of the Fulbright Program funded by a congressional appropriation to the United States Department of Education. It awards grants to individual U.S. K through 14 pre-teachers, teachers and administrators, pre-doctoral students, and post-doctoral faculty, as well as to U.S. institutions and organizations. Funding supports research and training efforts overseas, which focus on non-western foreign languages and area studies. Four Fulbright–Hays grants currently make awards: Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad, Fulbright–Hays Faculty Research Abroad, Fulbright–Hays Group Projects Abroad and Fulbright–Hays Seminars Abroad.

Fulbright–Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowships provide grants to U.S. colleges and universities to fund individual doctoral students who conduct research in other countries, in modern foreign languages and area studies for periods of 6–12 months. Fulbright–Hays Faculty Research Abroad fellowships provide grants to U.S. colleges and universities to fund individual faculty who conduct research in other countries, in modern foreign languages and area studies for periods of 3–12 months. Fulbright–Hays Group Projects Abroad provides grants to support overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor, including short-term seminars, curriculum development, group research or study, or advanced intensive language programs. Fulbright–Hays Seminars Abroad provides individual U.S. educators and administrators opportunities to go abroad as part of a group in the summer to participate in immersive educational and cultural activities and thereby improve their understanding of the peoples and cultures of other countries. Based on their seminar experiences, participants develop cross-cultural curricula for their home educational contexts.

Administration

The program is coordinated by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State under policy guidelines established by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB), with the help of 50 bi-national Fulbright commissions, U.S. embassies, and cooperating organizations in the U.S.

The United States Department of State is responsible for managing, coordinating and overseeing the Fulbright program. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is the bureau in the Department of State that has primary responsibility for the administration of the program.

The United States Department of Education is responsible for managing, coordinating and overseeing the Fulbright–Hays program.

The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board is a twelve-member board of educational and public leaders appointed by the President of the United States that determines general policy and direction for the Fulbright Program and approves all candidates nominated for Fulbright Scholarships.

Bi-national Fulbright commissions and foundations, most of which are funded jointly by the U.S. and partner governments, develop priorities for the program, including the numbers and categories of grants. More specifically, they plan and implement educational exchanges, recruit and nominate candidates for fellowships; designate qualified local educational institutions to host Fulbrighters; fundraise; engage alumni; support incoming U.S. Fulbrighters; and, in many countries, operate an information service for the public on educational opportunities in the United States.

In a country active in the program without a Fulbright commission, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy administers the Fulbright Program, including recruiting and nominating candidates for grants to the U.S., overseeing U.S. Fulbrighters on their grant in the country, and engaging alumni.

Established in 1919 in the aftermath of World War I, the Institute of International Education was created to catalyze educational exchange. In 1946, the U.S. Department of State invited IIE to administer the graduate student component and CIES to administer the faculty component of the Fulbright Program—IIE's largest program to date.

The Council for International Exchange of Scholars is a division of IIE that administers the Fulbright Scholar Program.

AMIDEAST administers Fulbright Foreign Student grants for grantees from the Middle East and North Africa, excluding Israel.

LASPAU: Affiliated with Harvard University LASPAU brings together a valuable network of individuals, institutions, leaders and organizations devoted to building knowledge-based societies across the Americas. Among other functions, LASPAU administers the Junior Faculty Development Program, a part of the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, for grantees from Central and South America and the Caribbean.

World Learning administers the Fulbright Specialist Program.

American Councils for International Education (ACTR/ACCELS) administers the Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP), a special academic exchange for grantees from the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Southeast Europe.

The Academy for Educational Development administers the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program and the Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching Program.

Related organizations

The Fulbright Association is an organization independent of the Fulbright Program and not associated with the U.S. Department of State. The Fulbright Association was established on February 27, 1977, as a private nonprofit, membership organization with over 9,000 members. Arthur Power Dudden was its founding president. He wanted alumni to educate members of the U.S. Congress and the public about the benefits of advancing increased mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries. In addition to the Fulbright Association in the U.S., independent Fulbright Alumni associations exist in over 75 countries around the world.

The Fulbright Academy is an organization independent of the Fulbright Program and not associated with the U.S. Department of State. A non-partisan, non-profit organization with members worldwide, the Fulbright Academy focuses on the professional advancement and collaboration needs among the 100,000+ Fulbright alumni in science, technology, and related fields. The Fulbright Academy works with individual and institutional members, Fulbright alumni associations and other organizations interested in leveraging the unique knowledge and skills of Fulbright alumni.

Bilateral commissions

The Fulbright Program has commissions in 49 of the over 160 countries with which it has bilateral partnerships. These foundations are funded jointly by the U.S. and partner governments. The role of the Fulbright Commissions is to plan and implement educational exchanges; recruit and nominate candidates, both domestic and foreign, for fellowships; designate qualified local educational institutions to host Fulbrighters; and support incoming U.S. Fulbrighters while engaging with alumni. Below is a list of current commissions.

J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding

The J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding is awarded by the Fulbright Association to recognize individuals or organisations which have made extraordinary contributions toward bringing peoples, cultures, or nations to greater understanding of others. Established in 1993, the prize was first awarded to Nelson Mandela.

Notable alumni

Fulbright alumni have occupied key roles in government, academia, and industry. Of the more than 325,000 alumni:
* 89 have received the Pulitzer Prize
* 78 have been MacArthur Fellows
* 62 have received a Nobel Prize
* 40 have served as head of state or government
* 10 have been elected to the U.S. Congress
* 1 has served as secretary general of the United Nations

List of selected group of notable Fulbright grant recipients

* William D. "Bro" Adams, university administrator and NEH Chair (2014–2017)
* Edward Albee, recipient (three times) of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
* Karim Alrawi, recipient of the Samuel Beckett Award for the Performing Arts, President of Egyptian Pen
* Francis Andersen, Australian Hebrew and biblical studies scholar
* Claire Andrade-Watkins, academic, film director
* Paula Arai, Buddhist studies scholar
* John Ashbery, American poet
* Gustavo V. Barbosa-Cánovas, Uruguayan American Professor of Food Engineering and Director of the Center for Nonthermal Processing of Food at Washington State University
* George Benneh, Ghanaian academic, university administrator and public servant
* Christopher Charles Benninger, recipient of the Indian Institute of Architects Gold Medal for contribution to architecture in (2004)
* Victor Bianchini, U.S. federal judge, California State superior court judge, retired Colonel of U.S. Marine Corps; former law school dean
* Amy Biehl, anti-Apartheid activist murdered in South Africa
* Harold Bloom, literary theorist and critic
* Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1992–1996
* Michael Broyde (born 1964), American law professor
* Kofi Abrefa Busia, Ghanaian academic and Prime Minister of Ghana (1969–1972)
* Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of Brazil from 1995 to 2002
* Kyle Carey, Celtic American musician
* Bob Carr, Australian politician
* Ron Castan, Australian Constitutional law barrister
* Lenora Champagne, playwright, performance artist and director
* Dante R. Chialvo, scientist
* Dale Chihuly, glass sculptor and entrepreneur
* Mark Choate, American historian, soldier, and diplomat
* Eugenie Clark, American ichthyologist and founder of Mote Marine Laboratory
* George C. Clerk, Ghanaian botanist and plant pathologist pioneer
* Nathan Collett, filmmaker
* Aaron Copland, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music
* Leah Curtis, Australian composer
* Myanna Dellinger, Danish-American law professor
* Arthur Deshaies, artist, printmaker, professor and head of the graphic workshop, Florida State University
* Rita Dove, U.S. Poet Laureate and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
* Eugenia Del Pino, Ecuadorian developmental biologist
* Ibrahim M. El-Sherbiny, Egyptian materials scientist
* Alfredo E. Evangelista, Filipino archeologist and director of the Anthropology division of the National Museum of the Philippines
* Glynnis Fawkes, archeological illustrator and graphic novelist
* Eric Foner, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for History
* John Hope Franklin, historian and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
* Maryellen Fullerton, lawyer and law professor and interim dean at Brooklyn Law School
* Radhika Gajjala, a communications and a cultural studies professor,
* Philip A. Gale, British chemist and university administrator
* Vicente Blanco Gaspar, ambassador of Spain
* Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan
* Gabby Giffords, United States Representative for Arizona's 8th congressional district
* Walter Gonzalez Gonzalez (1924–1979), first Fulbright scholar to the United States from Bolivia, President of the Society of Bolivian Engineers ("Sociedad de Ingenieros de Bolivia").
* Robert A. Gorman (born 1937), law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
* Wendy Greengross (1925–2012), general practitioner and broadcaster
* Nigel Healey, Vice Chancellor, Fiji National University
* Edward Herrmann, actor
* Robert Hess (1938–1994), President of Brooklyn College
* John Honnold (1915–2011), American law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
* Ross Horning, American historian
* Brad K. Hounkpati, founder of Grain de Sel Togo, Inc
* Elizabeth Ellis Hoyt (1893–1980), economist, considered the inventor of the modern day Consumer Price Index
* Julia Ioffe (born 1982), Russian-born American journalist
* Michael Janis, glass sculptor and educator
* Rahul M. Jindal, Indian-American transplant surgeon at Uniformed Services University.
* Roberta Karmel (born 1937), Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, and first female Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
* Charles Kennedy, British politician
* Suzanne Klotz, painter and sculptor
* Koh Tsu Koon, Malaysian politician
* Cy Kuckenbaker, American filmmaker
* Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022
* Karen LaMonte, sculptor
* Jeffrey W. Legro, political scientist and professor
* Ben Lerner, writer
* Bernadette Lim, American physician and community organizer
* John Lithgow, actor
* Dolph Lundgren, actor
* Jamil Mahuad, President of Ecuador from 1998 to 2000
* John Atta Mills, legal scholar and President of Ghana (2009–2012)
* Baidyanath Misra, former Vice-Chancellor of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology
* Daniel Patrick Moynihan, United States Senator and diplomat
* Robert Nozick

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