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Furman named Top Producer of U.S. Fulbright students

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Last updated February 22, 2017

By Tina Underwood

Furman University has been named a Top Producer of Fulbright students for 2016-17 by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Furman is the only bachelor’s institution in South Carolina to receive Top Producer honors.

Four students from Furman won Fulbright awards in 2016-17. This number places Furman among the top 35 bachelor’s institutions producing Fulbright winners. And of the 35 Top Producers, Furman claims the highest yield percentage of 66 percent, with four winners out of a total of six applicants from Furman. Furman is the only bachelor’s institution in South Carolina to have received Top Producer honors, and is also one of only five institutions in the entire South that received the Top Producer designation for 2016-17.

Furman winners, announced in June 2016, include Elias Eells of Crestwood, Ky. (researching in the Netherlands); Kelly Rae of Greenville (teaching English in Taiwan); Julia Roberts of Boone, N.C. (teaching English in Laos); and Samantha (Sami) Strickland of Greenville (researching in Germany).

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 370,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Over 1,900 U.S. students, artists and young professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English, and conduct research annually. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in over 160 countries throughout the world.

The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the United States Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. scholars, teachers and faculty to conduct research and teach overseas.  In addition, some 4,000 new foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study for graduate degrees, conduct research and teach foreign languages.

For more information about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, visit http://us.fulbrightonline.org/. Or contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.

 

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