Northfield, Minn. —The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, recently announced the complete list of colleges and universities that produced the most U.S. Fulbright Students for the current school year, and Carleton College was included on that list with six award-winners for 2012-13.

Carleton’s Fulbright Fellowship winners for 2012-13 were: Kathryn Deeg ‘12, Elizabeth Durham ‘12, Zachary Hyman ‘08, Grace Ogilby ‘12, Jesse Pittman ‘12, and Jacob Reznick ‘12.

“At least six of our students got to define a dream year for themselves,” said Elizabeth Ciner, director of student fellowships at Carleton. “They were able to identify what they wanted to do and explain how they thought they could do it, why they were prepared to do it and what they hoped to get out of it.

“As one of our students put it, ‘This is the opportunity of a lifetime. When else am I going to be able to pick up and go to Turkey and teach English for a year!’”

Approximately 40 Carls applied for a Fulbright in 2011-12, according to Ciner. In addition to the six successful Fulbright recipients, the College had another student who received a Fulbright but declined it for another award; award winners can't defer Fulbright Scholarships. Several unsuccessful Fulbright applicants received funding from alternate sources and are pursuing opportunities in various corners of the world.

“Aside from our success, there's the value of applying for something. Our students tell us over and over again that the process of applying for something required them to identify what they were interested in and why and to reflect on how they wanted to engage in the global community," Ciner said. “Regardless of the particular outcome, the opportunity to think seriously about who you are and what you want to do and then to have to connect all the dots to create a compelling picture can be incredibly rewarding.”

Almost 1,700 American students, artists and young professionals in more than 100 different fields of study have been offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English, and conduct research in over 140 countries throughout the world.

Of the 1,700 Fulbrighters, 19 percent are at the PhD degree level, 17 percent are at the Master’s level, and 65 percent are at the Bachelor’s degree level. Students receiving awards for this academic year applied through 600 colleges or universities. Lists of Fulbright recipients are available at: www.fulbrightonline.org/us.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 318,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.  In the past 66 years, more than 44,000 students from the United States have benefited from the Fulbright experience.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the United States Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.  The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, composed of 12 educational and public leaders appointed by the President of the United States, formulates policies for the administration of the Fulbright Program, establishes criteria for the selection of candidates and approves candidates nominated for awards

In the United States, the Institute of International Education administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

The Fulbright Program also awards grants to American teachers and faculty to conduct research and teach overseas.  In addition, some 4,000 new foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study for graduate degrees, conduct research and teach at U.S. universities, colleges and secondary schools.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://fulbright.state.gov.