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 a Nobel Prize; 88 have won Pulitzer Prizes.
History
Founding
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. A detailed proposal was first considered by the State Department on 1 March 1946. 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, introduced by Representative Wayne Hays and 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.
Originally, the program was administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, but in 1996 these responsibilities were transferred to the Institute of International Education.
21st century
In March 2024, the Russian government declared the Institute of International Education 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.
2025 board resignations and political interference
On June 11, 2025, eleven of the twelve members of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned in protest, citing what they described as "unlawful" political interference by the Trump administration. The board, which provides oversight for the international Fulbright exchange program, alleged that political appointees at the U.S. Department of State blocked or delayed awards for the 2025–26 academic year and subjected more than 1,200 foreign finalists to unauthorized ideological screening. The board’s open letter stated that review criteria were improperly influenced by applicants’ positions on topics such as climate change, race, and gender.The resignations prompted concern from higher education leaders and U.S. lawmakers. Senator Jeanne Shaheen stated that the alleged interference “politicizes one of our most respected international education programs” and could harm the U.S.'s global academic credibility.
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.
| Top 10 producers | Scholars | Scholars |
| Harvard University | 1,450 | 410 |
| Yale University | 1,208 | 372 |
| University of California, Berkeley | 1,002 | 306 |
| Columbia University | 1,001 | 327 |
| University of Michigan | 939 | 450 |
| Princeton University | 896 | 299 |
| Stanford University | 809 | 289 |
| University of Wisconsin–Madison | 805 | 225 |
| University of Chicago | 769 | 354 |
| Brown University | 716 | 391 |
- 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 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.