They might be the next Nobel Prize winner or the next head of state. They might win a Pulitzer Prize or earn the Presidential medal of freedom. Or they simply might just be great ambassadors for the United States or their institutions of higher education.
The possibilities are endless for students and scholars who are chosen to participate in the Fulbright Program each year. Their commitment to education, to their country and to being leaders also shows how well their colleges and universities are preparing elite talent for the future.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department and the Fulbright Program—which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year—released its list of the 125 Top Producing Institutions from the 2021-22 academic year that sent the best and brightest scholars to study abroad, lending their expertise and knowledge to global challenges in 160 countries across the world.
The leader among research institutions for the fourth time in five years was Brown University, which had 29 students awarded scholarships from a pool of 175 applicants, the most of any in the field. Brown beat out last year’s winner, Georgetown University, which tied Harvard University and the University of Notre Dame with 26 placements this year. Princeton University rounded out the top five with 22.
The top research institution in producing the most Fulbright Scholars was the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with 12, followed by Michigan State University at 11.
More from UB: Fulbright’s impact: National leaders honor 75 years with moving tributes
The list of this year’s Top Producers was quite diverse, led by 14 community colleges, nine Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), eight Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), three military academies and one Tribal College.
“These institutions reflect the geographic and institutional diversity of higher education in the United States,” said Ethan Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “We thank the leadership of these institutions for supporting their faculty advisors and administrators. We know that U.S. institutions benefit from having their students represent their campus overseas, which often fosters reciprocal exchanges that in turn help further internationalize U.S. campuses.”
In the Student category, the University of North Georgia and the City University of New York’s Hunter College each had seven master’s selections, while Bowdoin College had 15 among bachelor’s schools. California Institute of the Arts had four Fulbright students to top all Specialized schools. The University of Michigan placed 25 in the Dual Research/Doctoral program.
In the Scholar category, the State University of New York at New Paltz had four students selected, while Middlebury, Bucknell, Barnard and Skidmore colleges led the way with three each among baccalaureate institutions.
“The Fulbright Program provides many unique opportunities for our students to follow their scholarly passions, often with global leaders in their fields, while also gaining unique perspectives from around the world, strengthening the core values and knowledge they have acquired at SU,’ said Charles Wight, president of Salisbury University, which had several Fulbright selections. “Our faculty are able to share their knowledge with others, often while creating new partnerships that will benefit their own students at SU.”
Over its history, the Fulbright program has produced more than 400,000 scholars. Here are this year’s students and scholars by institutions:
Students
RESEARCH
29: Brown University
26: University of Notre Dame
26: Harvard University
26: Georgetown University
22: Princeton University
21: Stanford University
21: Columbia University
21: Yale University
19: University of Pennsylvania
18: University of Chicago
18: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
17: Northwestern University
16: New York University
15: Johns Hopkins University
14: Boston College
13: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
12: The University of Texas at Austin
12: University of California-Los Angeles
11: University of California-Irvine
11: Emory University
11: Indiana University-Bloomington
11: Boston University
11: Villanova University
11: Tufts University
10: University of California-Berkeley
10: Duke University
10: Ohio State University-Main Campus
10: University of Houston
MASTERS
7: University of North Georgia
7: CUNY Hunter College
6: Saint Edward’s University
4: Salisbury University
4: Rollins College
4: James Madison University
3: Augsburg University
3: Truman State University
3: Florida Southern College
BACHELORS
15: Bowdoin College
12: Williams College
10: Amherst College
10: Davidson College
9: Washington and Lee University
9: Oberlin College
8: Bates College
7: Scripps College
7: Carleton College
7: Smith College
7: United States Military Academy
7: Occidental College
7: Hamilton College
7: Franklin and Marshall College
6: Wellesley College
6: Barnard College
6: College of the Holy Cross
6: Kalamazoo College
5: Pomona College
5: Mount Holyoke College
5: Wesleyan University
5: Colgate University
5: Pitzer College
4: Haverford College
4: University of Richmond
4: University of Puget Sound
4: Grinnell College
4: Claremont McKenna College
4: Middlebury College
4: Connecticut College
SPECIALIZED
4: California Institute of the Arts
2: Rhode Island School of Design
2: Berklee College of Music
1: Maryland Institute College of Art
1: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
1: The New England Conservatory of Music
1: University of the Sciences
1: Pacifica Graduate Institute
1: Princeton Theological Seminary
1: Pratt Institute-Main
DUAL (Research/Doctoral)
25: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
16: Ohio State University-Main Campus
DUAL (Masters)
6: Salisbury University
DUAL (BA)
9: Barnard College
7: Middlebury College
Scholars
RESEARCH
12: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
11: Michigan State University
8: University of Maryland-College Park
8: Colorado State University-Fort Collins
8: Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
8: Purdue University-Main Campus
7: University of Florida
7: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
7: Florida International University
7: University of South Florida
6: University of Hawaii at Manoa
6: Northeastern University
6: Ohio State University-Main Campus
6: Cornell University
6: Washington State University
6: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
6: Texas Tech University
6: University of Connecticut
MASTERS
4: State University of New York at New Paltz
3: California State University-Chico
2: California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
2: Framingham State University
2: College of Charleston
2: California State University-Channel Islands
2: Grand Valley State University
2: Weber State University
2: Salisbury University
2: Citadel Military College of South Carolina
2: Humboldt State University
BACCALAUREATE
3: Middlebury College
3: Bucknell University
3: Barnard College
3: Skidmore College
2: Vassar College
2: Millikin University
2: Rhodes College
2: Gettysburg College
2: Macalester College
2: Allegheny College
ASSOCIATES
2: Highline College
1: Northampton County Area Community College
1: Anoka-Ramsey Community College
1: College of Lake County
1: CUNY Kingsborough Community College
1: Nassau Community College
1: Diablo Valley College
1: Northern Virginia Community College
1: San Diego Mesa College
1: South Piedmont Community College
1: St Petersburg College
1: Jefferson State Community College
1: Kent State University at Stark
1: Chief Dull Knife College
SPECIALIZED
2: CUNY School of Law
2: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
2: Oregon Health & Science University
