FROM ILLINOIS NEWS BUREAU — The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the highest number of applicants selected for the 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Student and Fulbright U.S. Scholar programs, as announced today by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
“We are extremely proud to be regularly recognized as one of the top producers of Fulbright students and scholars,” Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones said. “And those years when we are among the top in both categories are particularly important ones to us. They are a measure of our success in building new collaborations for research and an indication of the new educational horizons opened up to our students.”
Illinois is among 18 institutions recognized as top producers for both students and scholars. With eight faculty members named, this is the second year in a row that Illinois was named a top producer of U.S. Scholars, according to Sammer Jones, the director of global relations, placing Illinois among the top six institutions for faculty grants this year.
“The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Fulbright Program share a common goal—to foster comprehensive global learning and innovative discovery to solve our world’s most pressing challenges,” said Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela, the university’s vice provost for international affairs and global strategies. “We are exceptionally proud to have so many Illinois students and scholars offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research and teaching experiences around the globe.”
Sixteen students from the Urbana campus were offered Fulbright awards for the 2022-23 academic year, a selection rate among the top five public institutions in terms of numbers of students offered grants. David Schug, the director of the National and International Scholarships Program at Illinois, said the U. of I. has been included in the top-producing student list for four of the past five years.
The Fulbright competition is administered jointly at Illinois. The Office of Global Relations in Illinois International facilitates faculty grants, while the National and International Scholarships Program assists undergraduates and recent alumni in applying, and the Graduate College Office of External Fellowships focuses on graduate student applications. All three offices have begun working with future candidates, as applications will open this spring for students, recent alumni, and faculty interested in pursuing studies, fine arts, research or English teaching assistantships under the Fulbright in the 2024-25 academic year.
The Fulbright Program was established more than 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and other countries. While the primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, additional support comes from foreign partner governments, nongovernmental organizations, private organizations, corporate partnerships and individual donors. U.S. and foreign host institutions provide support as well.
Fulbright alumni have included 41 heads of state or government, 62 Nobel laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 78 MacArthur Fellows and countless leaders and changemakers who carry forward the Fulbright mission of enhancing mutual understanding.