Deadline: 7-Apr-23
U.S. Embassy Abidjan is pleased to announce the annual competition for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program.
This is the largest Fulbright program in Africa, primarily designed to strengthen African universities through higher degree training. Qualified candidates from other educational, cultural, and professional institutions may also apply. Recent graduates, especially women, are encouraged to apply. Although candidates for PhD programs may apply, priority will be given to candidates for master’s degree programs.
Good candidates with limited English proficiency may be considered for the Fulbright Long-Term English (LTE) Program. LTE Fellows will receive up to 8 months English language training prior to their academic programs.
Successful candidates will be funded for a maximum of two years. All awards are contingent upon approval by the Fulbright Scholarship Board, availability of funds, and successful academic placement.
Selection Criteria
- Applications are considered in a transparent competition. The interview committee is comprised of qualified local representatives from the U.S. and host country.
- Nominees must be citizens or nationals of the nominating country, or permanent residents holding a valid passport issued by the nominating country.
- Nominees must have at least the equivalent of four (4) years of university study and the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree. Nominees that have three (3) years of tertiary study should have the equivalent of thirteen (13) years of primary and secondary school and their undergraduate degree should allow them to be eligible to pursue higher education in their home country. Please note that final equivalency decisions will be determined by each U.S. university and not all institutions will accept a three (3) year undergraduate degree.
- Nominees should have a sufficient level of English proficiency to enable them to engage in full-time graduate level study in the U.S.
- Nominees must meet the minimum scores on required standardized tests.
- Nominees should have a high motivation and a serious commitment to completing the program as scheduled and to returning home.
- Nominees with NO extensive or recent U.S. experience will be given preference.
- No applicant may receive more than one Fulbright Student grant, including Humphrey Scholar alumni. This does not apply to Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program alumni.
- Locally employed staff (LES) abroad employed by the State Department/United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are ineligible for grants during the period of their employment and for one year following the termination of employment.
- The Foreign Student Program is extremely competitive and high test scores are crucial. Candidates should take their first set of standardized tests as early as possible.
- TOEFL is required of all nominees (if TOEFL is unavailable in your country, then the IELTS exam is acceptable but IIE cannot provide IELTS vouchers); scores must be available when the application is submitted to IIE. A score of 70 on the Paper-delivered Test and 90 on the IBT (Internet-based Test) is desirable; however, 80/100 is preferred.
- GRE is required for candidates in all fields except law and business. Candidates should re-take the GRE if they are the fiftieth percentile in any section and should plan to have one GRE score submitted by October 1.
- GMAT is required in the field of business in lieu of the GRE. A minimum 550 GMAT score is required for master’s candidates and a minimum score of 600 is required for Ph.D. An applicant must submit a sufficient GMAT score for submission to universities.
- Three letters of recommendation are required.
- The Fulbright Foreign Student Program implemented a zero-tolerance plagiarism policy. Accordingly, plagiarism disqualifies any applicant from this competition.
For more information, visit Fulbright Foreign Student Program.