USIEF-Fellowship - Flipbook - Page 30
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The Fulbright Program
The U.S. Government-funded Fulbright Program was established in 1946,
soon after World War II, under legislation introduced by former Senator J.
William Fulbright. Designed to “increase mutual understanding between the
people of the United States and the people of other countries…,” the program
has grown into one of the largest academic and cultural exchange programs in
the world. The Fulbright Program offers grants to U.S. citizens and nationals
of other countries for teaching, advanced research, graduate study and
professional development. Since its inception, over 400,000 scholars have
participated in the Fulbright Program. The Fulbright Program awards
approximately 8,000 new grants annually.
The primary sources of funding for the Fulbright Program are annual
appropriations made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State and the
U.S. Department of Education. In addition, participating governments, private
organizations and host institutions in many countries and in the U.S., contribute
financially through cost-sharing and other forms of support. In the U.S.
Department of State, the program for foreign and U.S. scholars is administered by
the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs http://exchanges.state.gov under
policy guidelines established by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship
Board (FSB) http://eca.state.gov/fulbright/about-fulbright/j-william-fulbrightforeign-scholarship-board-ffsb/ffsb-policies. The Board is a Presidentially
appointed independent body of educational and public leaders responsible for the
final selection of all Fulbright grantees and the formulation of the policies,
procedures, and selection criteria governing the program. Currently, the program
operates in 160 countries. It is administered by binational Fulbright Commissions
and Foundations in 49 countries and by U.S. Embassies in others. Under a
cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of State, the Institute of
International Education (IIE) www.iie.org also assist in administering the
Fulbright Program for students, teachers and professionals worldwide.
Visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright for more information on the Fulbright Program.