The United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), the Fulbright Commission in India, offers more than 50 Fulbright U.S. Scholar grants across four award categories for the 2023-24 academic year. The Fulbright-Nehru Program offers the largest number of scholar grants worldwide.
WHAT IS LIFE LIKE FOR FULBRIGHTERS IN YOUR COUNTRY?
India is the world’s largest democracy, with a vibrant and growing economy, rich history, kaleidoscopic diversity, and an enormous appetite for education. Its education system is among the largest and continues to expand at a rapid pace. India attracts faculty and students to study, teach and conduct research, its expertise extending beyond the technical and business fields to nearly all academic disciplines.
India’s education priorities include increasing access and equity and improving the quality of teaching and research. The Indian higher education system follows the British model, and all instruction is in English. The system is comprised of universities and university-level institutions, colleges, and diploma-awarding institutions (e.g., polytechnics and specialist institutes). Institutions are also categorized by funding sources: central government, state government and private. Undergraduate admission is highly competitive and is exam-based for most disciplines and institutions.
The expansion of the Fulbright Program in India has been an important development. The government of India became an equal partner in the financial support of the Fulbright Program in 2008, providing significant resources to increase the number of grants and renaming it to the Fulbright-Nehru Program. USIEF administers the Fulbright-Nehru U.S. Scholar Program, providing in-country support for grantees through its five offices (New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai).
The academic year in India generally runs from July to April. Some institutions have adopted the semester system and others follow the traditional academic session with grading based on end-of-year examinations.
Fulbright grantees are not permitted to travel to the Union Territory of Jammu or Kashmir.
All grantees receive an in-country briefing upon arrival in India. The Fulbright Commission in India pays careful attention to the safety of grantees, including those with families: spouses and children are welcome.
More information on Indian higher education:
In July 2020, the Union Cabinet of India approved the New Education Policy (NEP), which replaces the National Policy on Education-1986 and aims at universalization of education from pre-school to secondary level. The policy offers a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education and is set to bring major changes in the education system of India, such as a new 5+3+3+4 structure, introduction of vocational education training at younger levels, allowing top foreign universities to set up campuses in India, and a move towards institutes turning multi-disciplinary. The policy is based on the pillars of “Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability, Accountability” and aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge hub. Since education is a concurrent subject (both the Central and the state governments can make laws on it), the reforms proposed can only be implemented collaboratively by the Center and the states. The government has set a target of 2040 to implement the entire policy.
