The Fulbright program is officially accepting applications for the 2025-2026 academic year. Fulbright is a prestigious award supported by the U.S. Department of State. It was established by Congress after World War II to enable cultural and educational exchange between the United States and other nations with the end goal of fostering mutual understanding between nations and improving lives around the world. Dr. Terre Ryan, Associate Writing Professor and Director of National Fellowships, says college graduates can apply for one of two paths, which are Study/Research or English Teaching Assistant.
“The study/ research awards are for students who want to earn a one-year master’s degree or want to complete independent research in another country. The other track is the English teaching awards offers students the opportunity to teach for an academic year in a different country and get paid for it,” Dr. Ryan said.
To begin the process of applying for the Fulbright program, students must attend an information session hosted by Dr. Ryan. Afterwards, interested students must commit by May 15. Dr. Ryan works alongside the applicants during the summer to produce the best quality of work until the deadline in late September. Greyhound editor Gianna Sansonetti ‘24 says while this was a rigorous process, Dr. Ryan is committed to working on every applicants’ application.
“I spent my entire summer meeting with her working on my application. She has pretty hard deadlines that you have to meet during the summer, in order to continue to work on your two essays and short answer questions to make sure they are as good as they can be,” Sansonetti said.
The Fulbright program welcomes and encourages applications from all identity groups. Interested applicants need to fulfill certain eligibility requirements, such as being a U.S citizen by the application deadline, having completed your bachelor’s degree or an equivalent by the start of the grant, and not having their doctorate degree as that puts the applicant in a different category. Dr. Ryan says that Fulbright offers applicants around 900 study/research awards and over 1,200 English teaching assistant awards in over 140 countries. Each award has its own qualifications for applicants such as language requirements.
“Some countries require you to have a certain level of proficiency in their native language, others don’t for the English teaching assistant awards. The same thing with graduate study, you would think that if you go to grad school from the U.S, you would have to go to school in the UK, Australia, or Ireland. Actually, there are programs in several countries that offer their graduate degrees in English, even if that’s not the native language in their country and they don’t require language proficiency,” Ryan said.
Loyola was named a top Fulbright producing institution for the 2023-2024 academic year. Fulbright offers a fabulous opportunity for college students to launch their career. Fulbright winner Lily Tiger ’24 says Fulbright was a great way to extend everything she has already done.
“The Fulbright application and process allows you to learn so much about yourself. It really helped me craft why I do want to be a teacher, which I’m super thankful for. What are my goals in life? Why are cultural exchanges important to me? The application helps you to craft who you are and I think it is super awesome. Even if the odds are low and it’s so rare that you will get it,” Tiger said.
