UMass Amherst Recognized for Fulbright Programs

AMHERST — UMass Amherst has been recognized by the U.S. Department of State as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution — one of the nation’s universities with the highest number of students, faculty, and administrators selected for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student and Fulbright U.S. Scholar programs for the 2023-24 academic year.

Out of the 170 colleges and universities recognized overall, UMass Amherst is one of only 12 institutions recognized for both the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program this year. It is the only institution in Massachusetts — and one of only three in New England — to receive this distinction.

This is the fifth time UMass Amherst has been recognized as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for U.S. Students since the project began in 2009-10, and the third time as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for U.S. Scholars.

Student applicants to Fulbright at UMass Amherst are supported by the Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA) within the Commonwealth Honors College. Madalina Akli, director of ONSA and the International Scholars Program, and Mujtaba Hedayet, ONSA academic and scholarship advisor, work together and lead a faculty committee who support UMass Amherst students applying to the program. Students receive advising and application support that are inclusive of diverse students, honors and non-honors students, first-generation students, transfer students, and students on Pell Grant.

“Our Fulbright awardees represent the university with professionalism and confidence in the education received at UMass Amherst, which thoroughly prepared them to lead in the world using the research and leadership skills acquired here,” Akli said. “They equally inspire their peers to apply for Fulbrights and show that receiving an international scholarship is possible and realistic. They advance our international reputation as a top public university that thrives on academic and inclusive excellence.”