Fulbright Student Program
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant programs. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and over 140 countries through community engagement, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom.
- U.S. citizenship (dual citizen restrictions may be in place for certain countries).
- See Fulbright website for U.S. Department of State restrictions.
- Hold at least a B.A. (However, you can apply in the Spring of your junior year).
- Proficient language skills (if applicable).
- Preferred Qualifications: not previously held a Fulbright grant, not resided, or studied in the country of choice for more than six months (not counting undergraduate study abroad), no extensive recent previous experience in the country of choice. Applicants who have had extensive, recent previous foreign experience in the host country are at a competitive disadvantage but are still eligible to apply.
Between 6 months up to a year, (a few shorter than 6 months and some are 2-year grants). Programs line up with the academic year in that country (so in some cases it differs from the U.S.).
Covers airfare, room and board, health insurance. For some countries, it may also include full or partial tuition, book and research allowances, enrichment activities, language study, pre-departure, and in-country orientations. Grants sometimes pay out as lump sum, sometimes monthly.
- April 1: Competition opens.
- All summer long: Work on your application (we can give feedback)
- September: Campus deadline. By this time, you need to have submitted:
- Online parts of the application
- Language self-evaluation (if applicable)
- Transcript
- Preferably also 1 or 2 letters of recommendation
- Preferably some email correspondence with your affiliate on your steps/progress
- Schedule your professional foreign language evaluation.
- October: National deadline (exact date varies per year)
- November/December: National Screening Committees (by world region or discipline) review applications. These committees consist of people who have experience in a certain country, but not necessarily in a discipline (authors, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political science). The national committees recommend applications for final consideration in the host country. Final award selection will be made by the supervising agency in the host country.
- Late January: You receive notifications if you have been recommended for forwarding to Fulbright commissions/U.S. embassies in the host countries, which is the equivalent of a semi-finalist status. Some semi-finalists are invited for online or phone interviews.
- March/April: Winners (finalists) and alternates are announced. Alternates often can step up and are promoted to winners (non-acceptance reasons from winners are graduate school, job offer, funding issues, other priorities). Note: students do not become official winners until they pass the medical exam and receive research clearance.
Hollins University Representative (Fulbright Program Advisor)
- Jeanne Jégousso, Associate Professor and Director of French; Co-Director of Undergraduate Research; Hollins Fulbright Program Adviser