Fulbright and Community Colleges
The Fulbright Program offers opportunities for community college faculty and administrators to go abroad and for community colleges to host international Fulbrighters, supporting Fulbright’s goals of representing the range of higher educational institutions in the United States and the full diversity of our citizenry to communities abroad. See Fulbright awards highlighted for community colleges.
- Community college faculty offer a wealth of experience that they can share with the world as Fulbright U.S. Scholars and Fulbright Specialists, and return to enrich the classroom experience of their students.
- Community college administrators build connections to international partners and attract students to their campuses through Fulbright International Education Administrators Awards, supporting the internationalization of curriculum.
- Community college students who go on to graduate with their bachelor’s degree participate in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Fulbright selects community college alums to serve as Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors, to represent a variety of backgrounds and perspectives of Fulbright participants.
How Community Colleges Engage with Fulbright
The Fulbright Program invests in both faculty and students at community colleges. Partner countries have indicated over 120 awards for which U.S. community college faculty are especially encouraged to apply. Some have created new awards specifically for community college scholars, for instance, the new Community College Faculty Award to Denmark for 2025-2026.
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers a “Flex” award option that lets faculty conduct their projects over multiple shorter trips abroad. Faculty are also encouraged to apply for short term opportunities to serve as consultants or lecture abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program.
Community colleges are prioritized for programs where institutions apply to host international Fulbrighters to meet their specific needs, such as Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants, Fulbright Scholars-in-Residence, and Fulbright Outreach Lecturers.
Building Bridges with Technical and Vocational Schools Abroad
U.S. community colleges are respected around the world as a model for locally-based vocational education. Through the Fulbright Program, Scholars and Specialists are sharing the community college model and building international relationships.
Through the Fulbright Specialist Program, Santa Fe College administrator Vilma Fuentes developed a partnership with the Kyiv Professional College of Applied Sciences that enriches both institutions.
Outreach to Community Colleges
Fulbright Scholar Liaisons from community colleges across the country are invited to take part in virtual trainings and in-person workshops to help them connect faculty with Fulbright opportunities and work with campus leadership to develop policies that encourage international experience.
In March 2023, Fulbright hosted a workshop attended by community college leaders and advisors. The workshop was an opportunity for administrators of the Fulbright Program to listen to community college faculty and administrators about the challenges facing their institutions, and share their ideas for engagement with the Fulbright Program in the future.
As an outcome of the workshop, a number of leaders in field of community college education independently formed a new Fulbright Alumni Association Chapter, which meets virtually to accommodate members throughout the United States.
Fulbright Scholar Liaisons from community colleges across the country are invited to take part in virtual trainings and in-person workshops to help them connect faculty with Fulbright opportunities and work with campus leadership to develop policies that encourage international experience.
In April 2024, the Fulbright Program, in partnership with the Ohlone Community College District, brought together over 40 Fulbright Scholar Liaisons from community colleges from across the United States to exchange knowledge and resources on increasing the participation of community college faculty and administrators in the Fulbright Program. Read article.
The Fulbright Specialist Program convenes a working group for Fulbright Specialist alums currently at U.S. community colleges so Fulbright can better include participant perspectives into outreach efforts, initiatives, and resources to increase applicants from community colleges. This working group also communicates with and supports faculty and administrators at community colleges interested in the Fulbright Specialist Program.
Conferences and Webinars for Faculty and Administrators
Each year, the Fulbright Program partners with national community college organizations such as Community Colleges of International Development (CCID), Association of Community College Trustees (AACT) and the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) and attends their annual conferences.
Fulbright staff also conduct training webinars to address the challenges faced by community college applicants with the help of past participants from community colleges.
In April 2024, Fulbright joined CCID and the Faculty Association of California Community College (FACCC) to host a webinar to showcase how community college faculty and administrators can gain important research skills and internationalize their campuses and classrooms through the Fulbright Scholar Program.