The Fulbright US Student Program offers students the opportunity to spend an academic year abroad for a course of study, research or to work as an English Language Teaching Assistant.
If you are interested in an experience overseas, and you are a US citizen, I strongly encourage you to consider applying for the Fulbright IIE. Many of our doctoral students apply for the Fulbright IIE as a resource to support their dissertation project. However, if you are not a doctoral student, there can be many good reasons to apply for the Fulbright IIE, and I hope that you will explore the opportunities that the program offers.
With the Fulbright, you can pursue one of two main options: a grant to support you while you pursue a graduate degree (research/study) or a grant to support you as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA).
It isn’t possible to apply for both opportunities at the same time. Thus, as you consider your options, it would be good to consider your short and long term educational and professional goals and how a Fulbright grant might help to advance these goals. Additionally, you will want to consider the country that you would like to apply to for the course of study or ETA experience. You can find an overview of the countries and the grant opportunities available country by country here.
As a part of the application, you will need to craft a personal statement and a statement of grant purpose. Generally, these essays should tell the review committee about you, your professional and educational aspirations, and how a Fulbright will help you achieve your goals. The reviewers will be looking for a clear and compelling narrative that explains why you are interested in a specific country, what you hope to learn, and how you are already preparing for the experience. This page gives you some tips on writing the application. Additionally, we have a resource page for the Fulbright IIE on our website.
If you would like to have an overseas experience, take a moment to explore the Fulbright IIE, and then read our past posts on the Fulbright. In addition, please let us know that you plan to apply by visiting our Fulbright IIE Resource Page.
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