Fulbright Master’s Degree Scholarship 2018-2019
Application
2018-2019
Fulbright Master’s Degree Fellowship Program Announcement
CURRENT
STATUS: Open
Deadline
for Application Submission: February 28, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. Late
applications will not be accepted.
Submit
Your Application Package to KabulScholarshipInfo@state.gov
The U.S. Embassy is pleased
to announce the 2018- 2019 Fulbright Graduate Fellowship Program for citizens
of Afghanistan to pursue a fully-funded Master’s degree in the United
States. The Fulbright Graduate Fellowship pays for up to two years of
graduate study in the United States to earn an MA, MS, MBA/MPA, LLM or similar
graduate degree. Fellows receive a tuition grant for their coursework and
a monthly stipend to cover living expenses at their host institution. Fellows
also receive roundtrip transportation and health benefits. In
addition, Fellows may also attend special enrichment activities throughout
their program. These activities are excellent opportunities to network with
Fulbrighters from other countries and to interact with prominent Americans
across a range of professional fields. For more information about the
2016 J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Program, please visit http://eca.state.gov/Fulbright.
2018-2019
Cycle
Deadline for
applications
February 28, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. (Kabul time)
Interviews
May 2017
Fulbright finalists
notified June 2017
Visa interviews
July 2018
Travel to United States
August 2018 (certain candidates may be required to travel to the United States
as early as January 2018 for pre-academic Intensive English Program)
Eligibility
Requirements
·
Applicants must be
citizens of Afghanistan and currently residing in Afghanistan.
·
Applicants must have a
four-year bachelor’s degree (first university) by February 28, 2017 and a
strong academic background as demonstrated by their academic transcripts.
Please note that if you have a three-year bachelor’s degree from any country,
you are required to have at least a one-year Master’s/post-baccalaureate
diploma in order to qualify.
·
Applicants must score a
minimum of 75 on the Internet-based TOEFL exam and submit their score with
their Fulbright application.
·
Applicants must submit
two application essays (a Personal Statement and a Statement about Study
Research Objectives) with clear goals, well-reasoned statements describing why
they selected the academic field of study and how their academic plans
contribute to their long-term professional goals.
·
Applicants must present
three letters of recommendation from their professors and/or employers (usually
two from professors and one from an employer).
Evaluation
Criteria
Applicants must be
committed to returning to Afghanistan and a specific plan for using their
Fulbright experience in their professional lives and in service to their
country. Strong preference will be given to applicants who have not had
extensive recent experience in the United States. Note: All
grantees are required to return to Afghanistan for at least two years at the
conclusion of their grant in compliance with the J-visa requirements, to
promote mutual understanding, and serve as future leaders in the public and
private sectors of Afghanistan. After grantees return to Afghanistan and
establish themselves in their careers, it is still possible to get another visa
to the United States allowing travel back and forth for business or tourism
purposes.
Applicants should
demonstrate leadership qualities — including volunteer experience and
involvement in their communities. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul is especially
interested in supporting the following fields of study for Master’s degrees:
·
Agriculture
·
Animal Science
·
Business
·
Computer Science
·
Communications
·
Criminal Justice
·
Criminology
·
Crop Sciences
·
Economics
·
Education
·
Environmental Sciences
·
Gender Studies
·
Geology
·
Journalism
·
Language Teaching
·
Mathematics
·
Mental Health
·
Psychology
·
Public Administration
·
Public Health
·
Public Policy
·
Science
·
Social Work
·
Technology
·
Urban Planning
·
Engineering
Ineligibility
Factors
·
Persons who have not
completed their Bachelor’s degree by February 28, 2017
·
Persons with a dual
U.S./Afghan nationality or those having a spouse, parent, fiancé or child over
18 years of age who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
·
Employees of the U.S.
government agencies such as the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Agency for
International Development.
·
Persons who have a
pending application for immigration to any country (this includes Special
Immigrant Visas).
No
Dependents
The Fulbright
Graduate Fellowship Program in Afghanistan is provided for the recipient only;
dependents, including spouse (Maharam), cannot be supported. There are no
exceptions.
How
to Apply
STEP
1: Determine eligibility. Read the instructions
carefully. Before you apply, be sure that you qualify.
STEP
2: Submit the application. Please
click here to download
the MS Word application form. You must submit the completed application
package and supporting documents by the deadline; late applications will not be accepted.
Fulbright Selection
Process Announcement
Stage
1: Technical Eligibility Review
For the complete
Fulbright Scholarship Program Selection Criteria, please click here. An applicant
may be considered technically eligible for consideration as a Fulbright
candidate if he or she meets the following minimum requirements:
·
Completed a four-year
Bachelor’s Degree, or a three-year Bachelor’s Degree with one additional year
of undergraduate or graduate studies in a related field completed before
February 28, 2017.
·
Has an official TOEFL
iBT test score of at least 75 for the Master’s program, or 80 for the Ph.D.
program.
·
Holds Afghan
citizenship.
·
Does not hold U.S.
citizenship or lawful permanent residency.
·
Maintains a permanent
residence in Afghanistan (if currently living abroad, the applicant must be
able to demonstrate his/her intent to return to Afghanistan after the Fulbright
program).
·
Does not have a pending
application to immigrate to any country.
·
The following persons
are ineligible for grants during and for a period ending one year following the
termination of such employment, association, or service:
a. Employees of U.S.
missions abroad who work for the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Agency
for International Development. This provision includes all employees, paid or
unpaid (including part-time or temporary employees, consultants, externs,
fellows and contract employees). This provision does not apply to interns;
b. Board members or
staff of a Fulbright Commission;
c. Officers of an
organization, in the United States or abroad, including members of boards of
trustees or similar governing bodies, and individuals otherwise associated with
the organization, wherein the organization and the individuals are responsible
for nominating or selecting individuals for participation in any exchange
program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs;
d. Immediate
families (spouses and dependent children) of individuals described in
paragraphs a-c. This provision does not disqualify self-supporting children who
live apart from their parents;
e. For purposes of
this section, the one-year period of ineligibility is calculated from the date
of termination of employment, service, or association until the due date for
submission of applications for programs under this chapter.
Application
Requirements
Interested
applicants must submit a complete application by February 28, 2017 at 11:59 PM
(Kabul local time). The complete application package must be attached in
one single e-mail message to KabulScholarshipInfo@state.gov
·
Three letters of
recommendation from the applicant’s professors and/or employers (two from
professors and one from an employer is recommended)
·
Two application essays
(a Personal Statement and Study Research Objectives) ; and
·
One PDF file that
includes the entire application and the aforementioned supporting documents.
Additional
Requirement for the PhD Program: Applicants must
·
Have completed a
Master’s degree by February 28, 2017; and
·
Submit a professional
writing sample (10-15 pages, in the anticipated field of study).
Stage
2: Application Review and Interview Selection
The application
materials of any applicant who is found technically eligible will then be
thoroughly reviewed by a review panel from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The
panel will evaluate and rank applicants on the following areas:
1.
Quality of Academic
Proposal and Relevance of Proposed Study to Achieving Professional Goals
2.
Demonstrated Leadership
Qualities and Leadership Potential
3.
Volunteer Experience
and/or Community Involvement
4.
Work Experience
5.
Educational Experience
6.
Writing Ability and
Content
7.
Commitment to Helping
Afghanistan
8.
TOEFL iBT Score
Those who receive
the highest ratings on this review will be invited to the interview phase.
Stage
3: Interview and Essay
Applicants who are
found technically eligible and who pass the application review phase will be
invited to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul for an interview, and to write an
additional essay.
Interview: During the interview (20-40 minutes), applicants will be
asked detailed questions about their proposed course of academic study,
motivations for study in the United States, experience and qualifications, and
will be evaluated on their English speaking and comprehension, as well as their
ability to speak clearly, broadly, and intelligently on the following main
topics:
1.
The Applicant’s Goals
(Professional, Academic, and Personal);
2.
How the Fulbright
experience will support the applicant’s goals;
3.
How the applicant’s Fulbright
experience will help Afghanistan;
4.
How the applicant’s
prior experience has prepared him/her for Fulbright.
Essay: While at the Embassy before the interview, the applicant
will be asked to write a short essay on a topic chosen on the day of the interview.
The applicant will have 40 minutes to complete this handwritten essay, without
the help of English assistance tools. The interview panel will review the
essay for English writing ability and for content.
Stage
4: Finalist Fulbright Candidate Selection
All applicants will
then be ranked by the total scores they received during the Application Review,
Interview, and Essay stages. The highest ranked applicants for the
Master’s program and the top ranked PhD applicants will be nominated by the U.S.
Embassy as finalist candidates. The Embassy will choose 10-15 alternate
candidates. Finalist and alternate candidates will be notified of their
status at this stage. Nomination as a finalist does not guarantee that a
candidate will be accepted at a U.S. university or participate in the Fulbright
program. A candidate may also be dropped at any time for failure to
fulfill the requirements of the program or for failure to be admitted to a U.S.
university.
Stage
5: Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and TOEFL Testing
Once notified,
finalists and alternates will be required to take the Graduate Record Exam
(GRE) in order to be admitted into a U.S. university. If the applicant is
unable to achieve a high enough score on the exam, he/she may be unable to gain
acceptance at a U.S. university. The Embassy will offer finalists and
alternates a voucher to take the exam free of charge at the Kabul Educational
Advising Center in Kabul, Herat, or Mazar-e-Sharif. Finalists and
alternates will also receive one voucher to re-take the TOEFL test for free in
order to achieve a higher score and help their chances of being accepted into a
U.S. university. Applicants will have to take the GRE in August-September
2017, and will have the opportunity to re-take the TOEFL test by December 2017.
Stage
6: University Placement
The Institute of
International Education (IIE) – the U.S. Embassy’s implementing partner for the
Fulbright program – will submit applications to U.S. universities on behalf of
the Fulbright finalists and alternates. Fulbright candidates must not
apply to universities on their own, and must notify the Embassy about any prior
contact they have had with a U.S. university. IIE selects universities
that offer academic programs that match the candidate’s study objectives and
academic preferences. Fulbright candidates who have higher TOEFL and GRE
scores and better academic records are more likely to be accepted to a
university. The minimum TOEFL scores are often insufficient to gain
acceptance at many well-known universities in the United States.
Stage
7: Visa Interview
In order to
participate in the Fulbright program, all Fulbright finalists must qualify for
a non-immigrant visa by attending an in-person, scheduled interview. The Public Affairs Section has no influence on the decision of the
Consular Section. At this stage, an applicant will be
disqualified from the Fulbright program if he/she is found ineligible for a
non-immigrant J1 (exchange visitor) visa. Common factors that would make
a person ineligible for a visa include, but are not limited to: fraud or
misrepresentation, current or past applications for an immigrant visa, previous
violations of U.S. visa or immigration law, prior criminal acts, terrorist
affiliation, violations of drug or alcohol-related laws, and past or current
drug use.
Stage
8: Study at a U.S. University as a Fulbright Student
Once a Fulbright
finalist candidate is issued his/her visa, he/she can travel to the United
States to begin his/her studies. At that point, he/she officially becomes
a Fulbright student, or a “Fulbrighter.” Fulbright Master’s programs
typically last 1-2 years, while Ph.D. programs last 5 years. Fulbrighters
are typically issued multiple-entry visas, so they may return to Afghanistan
(at their own expense) during school breaks. The initial flight to the
United States and the return flight to Afghanistan at the conclusion of the
study program are covered under the Fulbright grant award. The Fulbright
grant also includes orientation and enrichment seminars designed to enhance the
Fulbright student’s academic experience and understanding of U.S. society and
culture.
Stage
9: Return to Afghanistan and Make a Difference
Once a Fulbrighter
earns his/her degree, he/she must return to Afghanistan for a period of at least
two years. Applicants unable to fulfill this requirement will be
considered ineligible for the Fulbright program. Once a Fulbrighter
returns to Afghanistan, he/she officially becomes a Fulbright Alumnus/a, and is
invited to Embassy events and activities that are only open to Fulbrighters and
other exchange program alumni. Fulbrighters are strongly encouraged to
use their new skills and knowledge to become successful leaders in their
institutions and to implement improvements and innovations in their
professional field. Fulbrighters are also encouraged to share their
experiences with friends, family, and colleagues in order to expand the
positive impact of the program on Afghanistan.
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