IU students received 11 Fulbright Awards for the 2021-22 school year, making this the seventh year in a row IU-Bloomington has been named a top producer of the award.
The Fulbright Award is a scholarship that gives students, alumni and faculty the chance to teach English or conduct research in another country.
This academic year, IU had the third highest number of Fulbright recipients in the Big Ten Conference, according to the Fulbright website. Only Northwestern University and the University of Michigan were ahead of IU.
IU is one of 28 American universities considered “top producers” of Fulbright recipients this year, according to the website.
"We are proud to be among the top producers for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, a distinction that reminds us of what makes IU a truly exceptional university,” IU President Pamela Whitten said in a press release.
Some of the countries IU recipients are visiting this year include Switzerland, Romania, Portugal and France, according to a News at IU article. Recipients from past years have gone to dozens of other countries such as India, Brazil, Jordan and the Philippines.
“I am getting to talk to scholars and students to really learn about culture,” Fulbright recipient Erin Dusza said.
Dusza is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at IU. She has been in Brno, Czech Republic, since September 2021.
“I am happy I received the Fulbright Award because my study of Czech art would not be the same without this experience,” Dusza said.
The Fulbright Award is open to all fields of study, with some past IU recipients having studied anthropology, political science and creative writing.
Sen. J. William Fulbright first began the Fulbright Program in the 1940s and the program is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational Affairs. The Fulbright Program has given around 370,000 awards since its founding, with around 1,600 U.S. student recipients each year.
“Students who are juniors, now is the time to start thinking about it,” Paul Fogleman, director of the IU Office of National Scholarships and Awards, said.
The Fulbright application process has many steps. Applicants pick if they want to do research or teach English, select which country they would like to go to and write a Statement of Grant Purpose detailing what they would do with the money from the award.
“The first part is making that decision as to which country, because that’s no small decision,” Fogleman said.
There were a total of 41 Fulbright award recipients for universities in Indiana this school year, out of 198 applications, according to the Fulbright Award website.
Applications for the 2023-24 school year open April 2022.
There are two information sessions coming up for the Fulbright Award: April 1 from 2:30 to 3 p.m. in Room 108 in the Hutton Honors College and April 6 via Zoom from 12:20 to 1 p.m.
