The program tries to promote cultural -- and not just educational -- exchange

By SARA LIPKA

This fall about 1,100 students will leave the United States for more than 115 foreign countries as part of the Fulbright Student Program, the best-known source of overseas study grants in the country.

The Fulbright Program was created by Congress in 1946 to promote mutual understanding between nations. Each year students' project proposals are reviewed by committees both in the United States and in the host countries, a process coordinated by the Institute of International Education. The grants, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, cover about one academic year of study in the host country. Recent college graduates, graduate students, and young professionals and artists may apply.

While it has proved enormously successful -- more than 4,500 students apply for grants each year -- Fulbright administrators worry that people think the program is exclusively focused on research pursuits. According to Thomas A. Farrell, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Fulbright has strayed "too far away from its original vision" of public diplomacy through cultural exchange.

Fulbright is "perceived as a purely academic program," Mr. Farrell says. "It was never meant to be that." Now, he says, Fulbright administrators are trying to change that perception by getting the word out that the program is about cultural as well as educational exchange.

Additionally, Fulbright has begun to target colleges and universities that have not consistently submitted applications in the past. "We're keenly interested in making sure the program is representative of the entire breadth of U.S. higher education," says Mr. Farrell.

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