Colleges producing the most Fulbright ‘students’ in 2014-15

Pitzer is the top producer of Fulbrights among Bachelor's Institutions

The U.S. Department of State in conjunction with The Chronicle of Higher Education recently announced a list of colleges and universities producing the most Fulbright students for 2014-2015.

And a spot on this list is one more bragging right for schools hoping to promote academic achievements to prospective students.  In fact, it’s way up there on the top of prestigious postgraduate opportunities including the Marshall, Rhodes, and Gates Scholarships.

Considerably larger in scope than the much older Rhodes Scholarship Program, the Fulbright Scholarship is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. Since 1946, more than 360,000 “Fulbrighters” have participated in the program.  In fact, the Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually and operates in over 160 countries worldwide. 

And it’s often a ticket to personal success.  To date, 53 Fulbright alumni from 13 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, and more Nobel laureates are former Fulbright recipients than any other award program.  In addition, 80 have received the Pulitzer Prize, 29 are MacArthur Foundation Fellows, and 30 have served as head of state or government.

This year, roughly 1,600 U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, and 900 visiting scholars received awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and professionals.

For prospective undergrads, the degree to which a college or university supports students interested in applying for honors such as the Fulbright can be an important consideration. And among those colleges that actively support global ambitions, the annual tally of grants offered may be a measure of institutional success.

The following are lists of top producers of Fulbright students by type of institution for 2014-15:

Research Institutions

Harvard University:  33

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor:  28

Northwestern University:  27

University of Chicago:  26

UC Berkeley:  22

Brown University:  21

University of Pennsylvania:  21

Yale University:  21

Princeton University:  20

Rutgers University at New Brunswick:  19

University of North Carolina:  19

Duke University:  17

Georgetown University:  16

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities:  16

Masters Institutions

Villanova University:  14

Rollins College:  8

Elon University:  6

City University of New York Hunter College:  6

Truman State University:  6

Western Kentucky University:  6

Whitworth University:  6

Pacific Lutheran University:  5

Grand Valley State University:  4

St. Edward’s University:  4

Santa Clara University:  4

Seattle University:  4

University of Scranton:  4

Bachelor’s Institutions

Pitzer College:  19

Smith College:  15

Amherst College:  13

Oberlin College:  13

Occidental College:  13

Middlebury College:  12

Scripps College:  11

Williams College:  11

Bates College:  10

Pomona College:  10

College of the Holy Cross:  9

Grinnell College:  9

Hamilton College:  9

Lewis & Clark College:  9

Wheaton College (MA):  9

Complete lists of Fulbright recipients are available on The Chronicle of Higher Education website.