Linfield College is among the top American colleges and universities that produced the most 2017-2018 Fulbright U.S. students, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced.
Four graduates from Linfield received Fulbright awards for the academic year 2017-2018. Linfield is tied with Lewis & Clark College and Reed College for highest amount of Fulbright awardees among private liberal arts colleges in Oregon. However, Linfield had a higher acceptance rate than its fellow Oregon colleges. Lewis & Clark and Reed had more applicants for the four awards than Linfield did—18 and 13 applicants, respectively. Linfield had 11, a 36 percent acceptance rate.
The four Linfield alumni who earned Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards are Chandler Collins ’15, Chris Munjar ’17, MacKenzie Fraser ’17 and Grant Cates ’17. The awards took these cultural ambassadors to Spain, Austria, Costa Rica and Germany.
“Linfield has a strong record of talented students, staff and faculty who work very hard. The Top Producer status is powerful evidence that we attract and train some of the nation’s finest young scholars,” said Tom Mertes, assistant professor of history and competitive scholarships advisor. “Our Fulbright recipients are wonderful young ambassadors who bring a dynamic energy and intelligence to their host countries. I have no doubt they will return even more engaged in their communities infusing them with deeper cultural understandings from their experiences as teachers and researchers as well as international citizens.”
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Some 1,900 U.S. students, artists and young professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English and conduct research abroad each year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in more than 140 countries throughout the world.
The Fulbright competition is administered at Linfield through the Competitive Scholarship Office. To learn more, visit www.linfield.edu/scholarships/grad-scholarship.
