Established in 1946 by Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright, the Fulbright Scholarship Program is an international exchange program made available to both US citizens and those from countries outside the United States. Sponsored by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and funded by Congressional Appropriation, each year it awards approximately 8,000 scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, teachers, professors, and professionals. The purpose of the Fulbright Program is to improve relations between Americans and citizens of the rest of the world by allowing them to share research and ideas to solve problems that affect everyone. If you want to take advantage of the opportunities this exchange program offers, follow the steps below to understand how to get a Fulbright scholarship.
Steps
Step 1. Start planning ahead
Due to the limited number of scholarships, the application to enter the Fulbright program involves a long and rigorous process. In most cases, the application process opens 15 months before the start date set for the assignment of the scholarships and the deadline for submitting applications is approximately 11-12 months before the same start date. The ideal would be to start organizing already two years before you intend to take advantage of the Fulbright Program.
Some scholarships, such as the Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship and the Fulbright Specialist Program, operate with deadlines other than those described above. You will need to consult the Fulbright Program website to locate specific dates for the program that you believe is suitable for your needs
Step 2. Check if you are eligible for citizenship
Fulbright Scholarships are available to both United States citizens to go to any country enrolled in the Fulbright Program, and to citizens of these same countries to enter the United States. Citizenship requirements are described below:
- Applicants for a Fulbright Scholarship that allows them to go from the United States to a foreign country must be U. S. citizens or naturalized in the United States. As a candidate, you can reside in a foreign country at the time of applying for the program, but you are not allowed to apply to study in the country where you reside, if it is one of the following: Australia, Belgium, Chile, China, Finland, France, Holland, Hong Kong, Israel, Jordan, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom or Vietnam. You cannot even apply for a Fulbright scholarship to study in a country belonging to the European Union, if you currently reside in any member country of the European Union.
- Applicants for a Fulbright Scholarship, which allows them to enter the United States from a foreign country by being evaluated by a Fulbright Commission, must meet the citizenship requirements, as defined by the agreements that the United States has entered into with that particular country. country. There are currently 50 countries in which a Fulbright Commission is established in each.
- Applicants for a Fulbright Scholarship, which allows them to enter the United States from a foreign country where the Fulbright Program is overseen by the U. S. Embassy, must meet the requirement of possessing a valid passport, issued by their country of residence.
- Non-US citizens living in the United States cannot apply for a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States while maintaining residency in this country. They can apply for the granting of the scholarship through their country of origin, if the latter is enrolled in the Fulbright Program, but they are usually required to reside there at the time they submit the application.
- Applicants holding dual citizenship in the United States and a foreign country enrolled in the Fulbright Program can apply for a Fulbright Scholarship to enter another country enrolled in the Program, but cannot apply for a Fulbright Scholarship with the purpose of studying in the United States. They can apply for a Fulbright scholarship to study in the foreign country in which they hold dual citizenship, if the agreements between the country and the United States allow it; otherwise, they can apply to study in another foreign country enrolled in the Fulbright Program.
Step 3. You must speak the English language
Foreign applicants of the Fulbright Program are required to be fluent in the English language or to have sufficient command of it. US citizens applying for a Fulbright scholarship in foreign countries should be able to speak the language of the country in which they intend to study well.
Step 4. Decide in which country you would like to study
Fulbright scholarships are available for the admission of US citizens to enter one of the more than 150 countries in the world or citizens of one of these countries to enter the United States. You can find a list of countries, grouped into zones, on the Fulbright Program website (https://fulbright.state.gov/participating-countries.html).
- Fulbright scholarships are also available in different countries within an area through the Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS).
- Some countries do not have a Fulbright program, but cooperate with other provided countries. For example, the Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent work in partnership with Barbados. Citizens of any of these countries apply to enter America through the Barbados program, and US citizens who wish to go to any of these countries must also apply through the same program.
- You can also benefit from a Fulbright scholarship to enter the territory of a foreign country, present in the Fulbright Program, or reside within this territory and enter the United States as part of the program. The territory is administered according to the same rules as for its mother country; for example, to visit French Guiana, you should follow the same procedures as for entering France.
- Fulbright Scholarships are not available to anyone wishing to apply from a participating foreign country to study in another participating foreign country. The Fulbright Program is a strictly bi-national exchange program between the United States and each country enrolled in the program.
Step 5. Determine which Fulbright Scholarship you wish to apply for
Fulbright Scholarships are made available to study in a number of fields, not just humanities and social sciences, but also biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, performing arts, physics, public and global health, telecommunications, visual arts and interdisciplinary fields that touch any or all of the individual fields of study sponsored. The Fulbright Scholarship you can apply for depends on whether you are a student, scholar, educator or professional. Below is a list of Fulbright programs, with those for US citizens, followed by those for citizens of other countries.
- The Fulbright U. S. Student Program (https://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html) allows undergraduates, graduates, artists and young professionals to study, research and / or teach English in a foreign country for one academic year. By "artists" we mean those who work both in the visual arts (painting, sculpture, drawing, graphics) and in the performing arts (acting, dance, music, writing). Related to this program are the Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships (https://us.fulbrightonline.org/types_mtvu.html), which give up to 4 American students the opportunity to study the cultural effects of music in a country foreigner, and Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships (https://us.fulbrightonline.org/thinking_teaching. html), which give teachers and students the opportunity to teach English and American culture to foreign students.
- The Critical Language Scholarship program is a 7-10 week program open to US undergraduates, graduates and PhD students. It provides education and cultural enrichment in 13 foreign languages defined as "critical need": Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish and Urdu.
- The Fulbright U. S. Scholar Program (https://www.cies.org/us_scholars/) is open to students of PhDs or an equivalent level of study. Participants can lecture and research for a semester or a year.
- The Fulbright Specialist Program (https://www.cies.org/Specialists/) offers from 2 to 6 weeks the opportunity to use the advice of US scholars and professionals to share their experience with foreign academic institutions. The aim is to help institutions improve their study paths, faculties and strategic planning.
- The Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship Program (https://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpsfra/index.html) is open to US faculty members continuing research and postdoctoral training in a foreign language and culture not western. Its sister program, the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program (https://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpsgpa/) organizes groups of students, teachers and professors to jointly study the language and culture of a foreign country in that country. Unlike the other Fulbright programs, these programs are sponsored by the U. S. Department of Education, rather than the State Department.
- The Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship Program (https://us.fulbrightonline.org/fulbright-public-policy-fellowships.html) gives US students and practitioners the opportunity to gain public sector experience and do academic research while serving in foreign government offices.
- The Fulbright Teacher Program (https://www.fulbrightteacherexchange.org/) provides the opportunity for individual exchanges of primary, secondary and post-secondary school educators between US and foreign institutions.
- Fulbright programs for foreign undergraduates include the 4-6 week “Study of United States Institutes for Student Leaders” and “Global Undergraduate Exchange Program” courses, which offer six-month and annual academic scholarships. The Student Leaders program brings groups of the best foreign students to the United States for intensive study, community service and social activities, while the Global UGRAD Program brings students from under-represented countries for many of these same activities, but at a faster pace. slow.
- The Fulbright Foreign Student Program lets graduate students, artists, and young professionals from other countries come to the United States to study and conduct their research. Some of the available year-long grants can be renewed. One of the grants, the Fulbright Science and Technology Award, lets foreign students in science, technology, or engineering study at major U. S. colleges and universities.
- The Fulbright Foreign Student Program allows graduates, artists and young professionals from other countries to enter the United States to study and conduct their research. Some of the annual scholarships can be renewed. One of these, the Fulbright Science and Technology Award, allows foreign students in the fields of science, technology or engineering to study at leading US colleges and universities.
- The Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program and the Scholar-in-Residence Program are open to foreign citizens with doctorates or equivalent training and experience. They give foreign scholars the opportunity to lecture and continue postdoctoral research at US colleges and universities for up to one year.
- The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program (https://flta.fulbrightonline.org/home.html) brings foreign teachers of English to America to enhance their professional experience by offering them the opportunity to have direct contact with the culture American.
- The Hubert H. Humphrey Program is open to experienced foreign professionals from developing countries. He takes them to the United States for an annual program of academic studies and professional experience.
Step 6. Apply for the Fulbright Scholarship of your choice
US citizens can apply for a Fulbright scholarship through the college they attend or, in general, through the organization managing the program they are interested in. The body in question sends these applications to the Fulbright Commission or to the US Embassy in the country where the study application was submitted. Citizens of foreign countries applying for a Fulbright Scholarship for the United States should contact the Fulbright Commission or the United States Embassy in their country, depending on which institution administers the program. The commission or embassy will report both US and foreign applicants to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which will determine who the scholarship will be awarded to.
The Foreign Scholarship Board is made up of 12 members appointed by the President of the United States. The members of this Council are selected from the academic world and the public service
Advice
- The Fulbright Program is not active in countries with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations. If you are a citizen of that country, you can establish legal residency in a country where the United States has diplomatic relations and an open Fulbright program in order to apply through that country. You will need to contact the Fulbright Commission or the US Embassy in the country where you intend to reside for eligibility requirements.
- If, after searching for scholarships, you find that the Fulbright Program is not for you, also inquire that the State Department offers other exchange programs. US citizens should refer to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website (https://exchanges.state.gov/), while citizens of other countries should refer to the EducationUSA website (https://www.educationusa.info/ 5_steps_to_study /) or to the sites of the colleges and universities that interest them. They can also consult the Institute of International Education (https://www.iie.org/) which manages parts of the Fulbright Program and maintains a list of study and funding opportunities (https://www.fundingusstudy.org/) at home and abroad.
- There are no age limits set for obtaining a Fulbright scholarship, but some programs have certain age ranges: applicants for the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program must be between 21 and 29 years of age when applying, while in some countries it is preferred to host only Fulbright English Language Teaching Assistant Program applicants under 30 years of age.
- All Fulbright Scholarships are individual, with the exception of the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program, which is intended for study groups.
- Most Fulbright scholarships fund all participants' expenses: transportation to and from the host country, monthly salary for the period covered by the scholarship, full or partial tuition, injuries and health coverage, as well as the cost of any orientation or enrichment activity associated with the program. Check the information about the program you are interested in before submitting your application.
Warnings
- Fulbright Scholarships cannot be used to fund travel with the primary purpose of attending a conference, completing a doctoral dissertation, swinging between multiple institutions as a consultant, or conducting clinical research involving patient contact. Furthermore, they are not exclusively designed for foreign citizens to learn English, although the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program is accessible to foreign teachers of English in order to improve their teaching skills.
- Fulbright Scholarships are not available to U. S. Department of State employees, members of their families, or employees of any business or entity that has closed State Department service contracts related to its exchange programs.
- It is not possible to have a Fulbright scholarship while you have already obtained a grant from the State Department's Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (This program allows foreign students to study clinical medicine in the United States).
