The Fulbright Scholarship was proposed by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1945 to the US Congress. The idea of the scholarship was to promote mutual understanding between the United States and the world at large. The idea was approved by Congress and the Fulbright Scholarship was brought into effect by President Harry Truman in 1946.
The US Fulbright Scholar Program must be given credit for sending 800 professionals and scholars annually to more than 140 countries for giving lectures and conducting research in academic and professional fields. The Visiting Fulbright Scholar Program awards grants for foreign scholars to lecture or conduct postdoctoral research. This program attracts nearly 800 scholars every year for a term or an academic year.
The Fulbright Scholarship Program offers pre-doctoral fellowships to US and foreign graduate students and graduating seniors. The Fulbright Scholarship also provides opportunities for exchanges between US and foreign elementary, secondary and postsecondary teachers through its Teacher Exchange Program.
The Hubert Humphrey Program is also part of the Fulbright Scholarship. Established in 1979, it seeks to bring accomplished professionals in the middle point of their careers to the United States. They can study for a year and take part in professional activities and thus improve their expertise in their respective disciplines. The professionals are selected on the basis of their achievements in terms of leadership qualities in the fields of public administration and public policy analysis, public health, agricultural development, planning, and resource management.The College and University Affiliations Program began in Africa as a model for other programs in 1982. The program was thrown open to the other countries in 1983 and seeks to bring together US universities and foreign institutions through faculty and staff exchange. Over 350 institutional grants have been granted since the inception of the program. The linkages focus on social sciences, humanities, business administration, and the arts.
The Fulbright-Hays Foreign Area and Language Training Programs is a part of the Fulbright Scholarship program that rewards individual Americans or American institutions to support research and training efforts with emphasis on Oriental languages and world area studies.
The Fulbright Scholarship Program is fully sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Council for International Exchange of Scholars assists in administering the Fulbright Scholar Program for faculty and professionals under a cooperative agreement with the bureau.
The Fulbright Scholarship Program is primarily funded by an annual appropriation made by the United States Congress to the Department of State. The governments that participate in the program and host institutions in foreign countries and in the US are also sizeable financial contributors. They contribute financially through cost-sharing and indirect support, such as salary supplements, tuition waivers, and university housing.
The Fulbright Scholarship is a novel idea for molding responsible individuals by giving them exposure to new developments in their respective professional fields. This is brought about by their interaction with other scholars and teachers in their new environment. These individuals then return to contribute responsibly to the development of their home countries.
