Fulbright Scholarships: What You Need to Know

Map of all of the countries that have Fulbright Programs

The Fulbright program, originally founded by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946, is the United States’ premier international exchange program. Its student program offers graduating seniors, grad students, and young professionals the opportunity to further their studies, conduct research, and teach English abroad. And, although applications are closed for the 2026-2027 cycle, it is still an avenue which Millikin students should consider, especially if they are interested in international travel, cultural exchange, or acquiring a competitive line on their resume or CV. However, current students should also be aware of the unique challenges facing applicants under the current administration, which has engaged in specific forms of discrimination against applicants over the content of their application. 

As the former Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, a non-partisan panel selected by the president which chooses the applicants who receive Fulbrights, alleged in June of this year, the Trump administration denied a number of individuals already selected for the 2025-26 cycle, and subjected others to an unauthorized review process, which could have led to further denials. The experience of recent Millikin alum Daniel Peters, who applied for the 2025-26 cycle, serves as both an example of what Millikin prepares students to pursue post-graduation, as well as a warning for current students who may wish to apply to the program in the future.

“I applied to be an ETA, an English Teaching Assistant,” Daniel says. “They would send you over there. They would provide you with a stipend, and it is a big offer. It is the cream of the crop for us.”

Daniel originally became interested in the program during their time at Millikin, through interaction with the Fulbright correspondent on campus, Dr. Dean, and the study abroad program she led to the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) in 2023, which Daniel participated in. “Every university has basically a faculty member who is an outreach member for the Fulbright Program. They just do like networking for students with the broader Fulbright Program,” Daniel says. “So she told me about it because she was a Fulbright teaching assistant for Latvia in 2007, and I had been to Latvia with her that previous sfummer.” Dr. Dean is leading another study abroad trip to the Baltic States in 2026. 

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has facilitated academic exchange with 165 countries, from all over the globe. It is one of the best representations of U.S. foreign diplomacy which the U.S. has produced. Its application process is designed to be competitive and selective, making it a major boost to an individual’s future prospects in academia and beyond. 

“It was a lot of fun. I was applying to graduate schools at the same time, and I must say that I think the Fulbright application process was very involved, thanks to Dr. Dean and being at a smaller campus,” Daniel says about his application experience. “You really have to apply yourself not to the program, but to the country that you’re applying for.”

The application process is also much more exacting than most graduate school applications. Administered by the Institute of International Education, there are several steps which lead to the opportunity to receive a Fulbright scholarship. These include approval from the National Screening Committee (NSC), the host country’s embassy, and Fulbright Commission before a decision is finally reached. 

Unfortunately, when the Trump administration temporarily froze the funding of study-abroad and international exchange programs last February, Fulbright scholars, and the program as a whole faced uncertainty and immediate danger. “Those people did not get their stipends for, I think, two months,” Daniel says. “You can imagine being stuck in a foreign country without money. You don’t know when you’re going to get your paycheck. That is a very scary thing.” That type of risk was unheard of prior to this year, which is not said to dissuade applicants, but to fully inform students of the possible risks this program now carries. 

Beyond freezing the stipends of scholars already abroad, the Trump administration had an outsized impact on the selections for the 2025-26 cycle of applicants. There was direct interference and unauthorized review by the administration which led to the mass resignation of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board in June. Daniel recounts how this particularly impacted their application:

“They approved my application as a semifinalist, which is very good,” he says. “Unfortunately, it came back in May that I was a non-select. I was out of the competition. I do think a lot of that had to do with the Trump administration. I talked very openly about my sexuality, my experience with queerness in my Fulbright application, and unfortunately they were very open with using AI, different computer filters to look at people’s applications and if they mention certain words, like queerness, POC, people of color, climate change, environmental impact, really basic words, those people were bumped out, and they chose people that did not mention those words in their applications.”

Millikin students, especially juniors and seniors looking into continuing their education, should be aware of the advantages to applying for a Fulbright at a small university with experienced faculty, like the breadth of support they are available to offer for the involved application process. The current difficulties imposed on the program by the Trump administration do not devalue the experience or the opportunity of a Fulbright; however, any Millikin student who wishes to apply in the coming years should be aware that the institution, formerly expressly non-partisan, is now more susceptible to the political whims of the government than ever before, and tailor their applications accordingly.