Federal grant programs / Department of State

Academic Exchange Programs - Undergraduate Programs (19.009)

Also known as Undergraduate Programs

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$230 million
• Grant awards66
• Typical award$1.5 million
• Awarded in FY 2025$10.1 million
• Size rank576 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceCooperative agreements

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $45.9 million in fiscal 2021 to $10.1 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 576th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 16 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 11 states and territories.

What the program funds

As authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) seeks to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by means of educational and cultural exchange programs, including the exchange of scholars, researchers, professionals, students, and educators. ECA programs foster engagement and encourage dialogue with citizens around the world. Educational and cultural engagement is premised on the knowledge that mutual understanding, the development of future leaders, and the benefits of education programs serve to influence societies and affect official decision-making almost everywhere in the world today. ECA programs inform, engage, and influence participants across strategic sectors of society – including young people, teachers, scholars, journalists, and other professionals – increasing the number of foreign individuals who have first-hand experience with Americans and with the values of freedom, representative government, rule of law, economic choice, and individual dignity, while building international knowledge and capacity among Americans. The purpose of Undergraduate Programs is to provide targeted support for American students to pursue intensive language study abroad and to expand the opportunities available for American students via study abroad programming as well as to provide foreign students with opportunities to gain a better understanding of the United States, while developing new generations of world leaders. Undergraduate programs include the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (Global UGRAD); Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders (SUSI); the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI Fellowship); the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Academic Fellows Program; Community College Initiative (CCI) Program ; and the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Pursuant to the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, as amended (Fulbright-Hays Act) the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State awards grants and cooperative agreements to educational and cultural public or private nonprofit foundations or institutions. Applications may be submitted by public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3). Organizations must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application. Please refer to the Grants.gov or the U.S. Department of State's MyGrants (formerly SAMS Domestic) announcement for further eligibility criteria.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Funding is provided to non-profit organizations, colleges, and universities to support their work in designing and administering programs as well as coordinating program logistics. Funding supports publicity and recruitment, screening of applications, communication with participants, payment of participant costs, and the provision of enrichment activities. The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (Global UGRAD) provides one semester scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students from underrepresented and underserved communities in Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Eurasia, the Near East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. In FY 23, Global UGRAD placed more than 140 students at over 40 institutions around the United States for the Spring 2023 semester. The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program with Pakistan (Global UGRAD Pakistan) provides one semester scholarships to outstanding, undergraduate, emerging student leaders from across Pakistan who traditionally may not have access to the American educational system. Global UGRAD Pakistan supported 108 participants during academic year 2023-2024. Fifty-four fall 2023 and 54 spring 2024 students were placed at 52 U.S. host campuses in 35 states across the country. The Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders are five-week academic programs focusing on topics in U.S. studies for 19 groups of 20 foreign undergraduates.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

$399,750 to $16,950,000.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Nonprofits received 79% of the money, colleges and universities 21% and individuals less than 0.1%.

By state

10 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.