Fulbright U.S. Student Program Competition Opens

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is accepting applications for the 2008-09 student grants.

For more than 60 years, the federal government-sponsored Fulbright U.S. Student Program has provided future American leaders an opportunity to study, conduct research and teach in other countries. Fulbright student grants aim to increase mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchange, while serving as a catalyst for long term leadership development.

 

Recent graduate Jan Marie Andersen received an award to study at Denmark’s Niels Bohr Institute during the 2007-08 academic year.

 

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards approximately 1,300 grants annually and currently operates in more than 140 countries worldwide. Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships are now available to 26 countries. Fulbright full grants generally provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident coverage and full or partial tuition.

 

Applicants to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program must be U.S. citizens at the time of application and hold a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent by the beginning of the grant. In the creative and performing arts, four years of professional training or experience meets the basic eligibility requirement. Professional applicants lacking a degree but with extensive professional study or experience in the field in which they wish to pursue a project may also be considered. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program does not require applicants to be currently enrolled in a college or university. Applications from young professionals interested in an international experience are also encouraged.

 

For more information, interested individuals should visit the Fulbright U.S. Student Web site.

 

Students enrolled at Utah State University should contact the campus Fulbright program advisor and USU Vice Provost Steven Hanks, 797-1840, for more information. Applications must be submitted both electronically and in hard copy to Hanks by the campus closing date of Sept. 21, 2007, in order to meet the Institute of International Education electronic deadline of Oct. 18 and in hard copy by Oct. 22 for the national deadline.

 

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 279,500 participants worldwide the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s inhabitants. In the past 61 years, 105,400 students, scholars and teachers from the United States have benefited from the Fulbright experience.

 

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Financial support is provided by an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress to the Department of State and by participating foreign governments and host institutions in the United States and abroad. The presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board formulates policy guidelines and makes the final selections of all grantees.