The Fulbright Program provides funds for students, scholars and professionals to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university teaching etc. It is estimated that over 1000 Pakistanis have already had the opportunity to participate in such programs. Since there are several institutions/organizations involved in the entire process, you will come across different names and acronyms in this article. The names and roles of some of them are explained below:

• Fulbright: The Fulbright Fellowships and Fulbright Scholarships, founded by the United States Senator William J. Fulbright, are educational grants funded (in part) by the United States Department of State.

• USEFP: The United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan is a Fulbright Commission that supervises Fulbright-related programs in Pakistan. For Pakistani applicants, this organization is the main point of contact, who receives applications and carries out interviews etc.

• USAID: USAID is a US government organization responsible for non-military foreign aid. They provide funding for the Fulbright program, which is why you will often see scholarships labeled as “Fulbright/USAID” scholarships.

• HEC: The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is a government organization that helps USEFP with funds to create scholarships labeled “Fulbright/HEC” scholarships (as opposed to purely Fulbright or Fulbright/USAID scholarships).

• IIE: IIE is a non-profit international education organization who interact with universities on behalf of Fulbright applicants. When USEFP applies to universities on your behalf, they use the services of IIE to do so.

The whole process, in a nutshell, works as follows: USEFP administers the Fulbright scholarship program in Pakistan and remain the only point of contact for Fulbright applicants. They receive funding from USAID and HEC. When applying for university admission, USEFP will forward your file to IIE who will interact with the universities on your behalf (read more on the process below).

The whole process, in a nutshell, works as follows: USEFP administers the Fulbright scholarship program in Pakistan and remain the only point of contact for Fulbright applicants. They receive funding from USAID and HEC. When applying for university admission, USEFP will forward your file to IIE who will interact with the universities on your behalf (read more on the process below).

Benefits

In a nutshell, it pays the bill and carries a lot of prestige. However, that comes at a price, especially for those in the Fulbright-HEC category. If you have alternate sources of funding, you may want to consider each of the following benefits in context of alternatives, as given below.
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