Lamar University students will have the opportunity to compete in the 2008-2009 Fulbright U.S. Student Program competition, which is administered by the Institute of International Education.
Donna Birdwell, the Fulbright Program advisor for Lamar University and director of the University Honors Program, said students who are interested in competing must submit applications both electronically and in hard copy to her by the campus closing date of Sept. 1, 2007.
“Students graduating from December 2007 through August 2008 should apply this year,” Birdwell said. She asks that all students who anticipate applying contact her this summer to ensure timely completion of the process. Birdwell can be reached in Room 102 of the ROTC building, phone (409) 880-8658 or email donna.birdwell@lamar.edu.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, provides students, scholars, and professionals with the opportunity to study, teach, lecture and conduct research in more than 150 countries.
To qualify, applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application and hold bachelor’s degrees or the equivalent by the beginning of the grant period. Professional applicants lacking a degree but with extensive professional study and/or experience in the field in which they wish to pursue a project may also be considered. The program does not require applicants to be currently enrolled in a college or university.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards about1,300 grants annually, and Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships are available in 26 countries. Fulbright full grants generally provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident coverage, and full or partial tuition.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 279,500 participants worldwide with the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic and cultural institutions exchange ideas and embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s inhabitants.
In 1945, the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, D-Arkansas, introduced a bill that called for the use of proceeds from the sale of surplus war property to fund the “Promotion of international goodwill through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture and science.” President Harry S. Truman signed the bill into law Aug. 1, 1946, creating the Fulbright program. Fulbright died in 1995.
