How To: study in the US

The German-American Fulbright Program realizes the visionary idea of Senator Fulbright - promoting mutual understanding between both countries with an academic and cultural exchange. As the biggest and most divers Fulbright Program worldwide, the German-American program has supported more than 30,000 Germans and Americans since it was founded in 1952. The special characteristic of the German-American Fulbright Program is the student exchange. This central part of the program is complemented by year-long scholarships for female professors, teachers and foreign language assistants as well as advanced training for female university administrators and regional experts.

The bi-national Fulbright commission consists of five German and five American members appointed by the honorary chairmen, the German foreign minister and the American ambassador in Germany. The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, whose members are appointed by the US President, writes the guidelines for the Fulbright Program. The German-American is run by the German office in Berlin. The American partner is the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State.

Scholarship purpose The Fulbright Commission awards full and partial scholarships to deepen and complement a college education at a US university and to get to know the US. The target group are students and graduates at universities. The scholarship holders should be enrolled at the host university as fulltime students for one academic year (9-10 months) - if possible in graduate studies.

The scholarships are not necessarily designed to obtain a US university degree. However, it is possible to graduate from the US university if you are willing to finance a further stay after the scholarship. In addition, the scholarship holders can also do an internship after their academic year (which they will also have to pay for themselves).

The number of scholarships is limited to 100 a year (up to one third of them partial scholarships).

What does the scholarship cover? The tuition fees at the American host university, costs of living for full scholarships, and partial payment of the costs of living for partial scholarships. Partial scholarship holders have to pay $400 a month. Furthermore, the Fulbright Commission takes care of placing you at a university, pays for the travel expenses, a fixed sum for additional costs (e.g. health certificate, language tests etc.), health/accident insurance, and guarantees free of charge and speeded up (if possible) visa processing (see: Breaking News).

The service package also includes extensive supervision by the Fulbright Commission and the Institute of International Education (IIE), participation in a preparatory seminar, and Cultural Enrichment Seminars in the US. In addition, the placement at an American host university also includes advice for choosing a university and enrollment at a US university. Usually this will be one of the top -125 so-called Research Universities where scholarship holders will compete with other students from the US and around the world.

What are the application requirements (selection)?

German citizenship (German-American dual nationality leads to exclusion due to the American regulations)
No green card or work permit for the US (anyone who is just planning an internship or a practical semester in the US or who wants to immigrate into the US or apply for a work permit after the scholarship cannot be sponsored with the Fulbright Program)
General qualification for university entrance
Convincing explanation of your study plans for the US
Active interests outside the academic education
Good English language skills
Age limit 35
Applicants who have already studied in the US for several months or have done a longer internship there (with the exception of student exchanges) can be sponsored in exceptional cases

There are special regulations for students of medicine and law and for business students. Without a German academic degree you can only study related subjects at US universities. Graduate law students can study comparative law. Applicants for such programs may qualify in case they can prove that they have the first law state exam (erstes juristisches Staatsexamen) by March 31 of the year they wish to go to the US.

Business studies: Being accepted to the MBA program usually requires a degree from a German university and several years of work experience. Business students can qualify for the Fulbright Program for additional degrees (e.g. Financial Accounting).

The application process works as follows:

Full and partial scholarships will be advertised via the academic foreign offices at German universities, students and graduates can apply until the end of June. The advertisements will be for scholarships starting in the American fall semester of the following year. (Example: advertisements between April and June 2003 will be for the American academic year 2004-2005 starting August/September 2004.)

Students will apply at the academic foreign office of their university and graduates at the Fulbright Commission. Advice: get advice from the people at the academic foreign offices or the Fulbright liaison professors.

Before the scholarship are assigned, there is a selection process: The academic foreign offices will forward the applications to the Fulbright Commission together with a performance-related and personal letter of recommendation. After a nationwide pre-selection, the Fulbright Commission will inform the applicants in written form about the status of their application. A number of them will be invited to a selection interview to Berlin in October. Travel expenses will be paid by the Fulbright Commission.

The applicants should convincingly explain their academic plans for the US and also think about with what interests and activities they could contribute to the German-American cultural exchange program. You should also be prepared for questions about general knowledge and about everyday politics in the US and Germany. The Fulbright Commission will include, for example, members of the academic foreign offices, Fulbright liaison professors and US professors.

Contact For more information, please refer to www.fulbright.de or directly to:

German Program Unit
- Fulbright-Kommission -
Oranienburger Straße 13-14
10407 Berlin
Tel.: 030-284443-772
E-Mail: gpu@fulbright.de
By the way: find interesting web-links for all US universities and schools in our Internet Surf Tips!