Federal grant programs / Department of State

Academic Exchange Programs - Graduate Students (19.400)

Also known as Graduate Students

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$460 million
• Grant awards61
• Typical award$2,101
• Awarded in FY 2025$85.1 million
• Size rank391 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceProject grants

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $91.2 million in fiscal 2021 to $85.1 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 391st largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 7 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 4 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 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 the Fulbright Student Program is to promote mutual understanding by providing opportunities for American and foreign students to study, do research, and/or serve as teaching assistants of their native languages abroad. The Fulbright Student Program includes program components for U.S. students, foreign students, Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program, Fulbright-Fogarty Fellows, and the Fulbright-National Geographic Award 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

The flagship international exchange program sponsored by the United States Government, the Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Funding is provided to non-profit organizations to support their work in designing and administering programs as well as coordinating program logistics. Funding to those organizations supports activities such as publicity and recruitment, screening of applications, communication with participants, payment of participant costs, and the provision of enrichment activities. The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program, an element of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, places recent college graduates and young professionals as English teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools, universities, and language-learning institutions overseas. The Fulbright Foreign Student Program provides scholarships to foreign graduate students, young professionals, and artists from abroad, enabling them to study or conduct research in all academic fields in the United States for one academic year or more. Students and professionals in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program study at U.S. universities, where they experience education and culture in the United States while promoting mutual understanding through sharing their own cultures with the Americans they meet throughout the program.

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

$620,407 to $86,561,114.

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

Almost all of the money went to nonprofits.

By state

3 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards. They are New York, District of Columbia and Massachusetts.

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