Soros (Paul & Daisy) Fellowships for New Americans - Soros Fellowships for New Americans

Thirty Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans will be awarded in March 2014 on the basis of a single national competition.

• Each fellowship supports up to two years of graduate study – in any field and in any advanced degree-granting program – in the United States. 
• Each award is for up to $25,000 in maintenance grants and up to $20,000 in tuition tuition and fees or 50% of required tuition and fees/year.
• The program promotes a strong sense of community among Soros Fellows through fall conferences and other activities for fellows receiving financial support and numerous events held throughout the country for fellows receiving financial support and numerous events held throughout the country for fellows who are no longer receiving financial support.
• The deadline for submission of completed applications is November 8, 2013.
• To be eligible, you must be:

• A New American (a green card holder or naturalized citizen if born abroad; a child of naturalized citizens if born in this country).
• Not yet 31 years old, as of the application deadline.
• A college senior or holder of a bachelor’s degree.
• Not beyond your second year – if already enrolled – in the graduate degree program for which you request support.

• Selection criteria emphasize creativity, originality, initiative, and sustained accomplishment.  
• The program values a commitment to the constitution and the bill of rights.
• The program promotes a strong sense of community among fellows and alumni through fall conferences for fellows and numerous events for fellows and alumni held throughout the country.
• The top 77 applicants will be designated “finalists” and will be asked to appear for interviews in New York City or Los Angeles in late-January or early-February of 2014. Reasonable expenses will be covered by the Fellowship Program.
• The 30 fellowship winners, selected from among the 77 finalists, will be announced in March of 2014.

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible for the fellowship, you must meet all of the three following sets of conditions

1. Status as a New American

If you were born outside the United States and were not eligible for U.S. citizenship at birth, you must, as of November 8, 2013, be either a naturalized citizen or in possession of a green card (i.e., be a resident alien).

Note:  if you are a foreign student studying in the United States on a student visa, you ARE NOT eligible for this program unless you have a green card in hand on November 8, 2013.

If you were born inside the United States or one of its territories, both of your parents must have been born outside the United States and its territories and neither can have been eligible for US citizenship at the time of his or her birth. At least one of those parents must subsequently have become a naturalized citizen of the U.S.

2. Age

You must not have reached or passed your 31st birthday as of November 8, 2013. In other words, you must have been born on or after November 9, 1982.

3.  Academic Standing

You must already hold a bachelor's degree or be a college senior in good standing.

You may be planning to apply to (or have already applied to), and enroll in a graduate program for the academic year 2014-15, in which case you will be expected to have decided on a field of study and identified graduate degree programs in the United States which you hope to receive Soros support.

You may currently be enrolled in a graduate degree program other than the one for which you hope to receive Soros support in the academic year 2014-15.

You may, as of November 8, 2013, already be enrolled in a single graduate degree program for which you hope to receive Soros support in the academic year 2014-15 and subsequently. In that case,

• You must not have begun a third year of work on that degree as of November 8, 2013, and
• The degree requirements must involve your full-time study during academic year 2014-15.

You may, as of November 8, 2013, be enrolled in a joint degree program ��� or in two separate graduate degree programs. In that case,

• You must not have begun a third year of work on that degree as of November 8, 2013, and
• The degree requirements must involve your full-time study during academic year 2014-15
• You may be at a more advance stage in pursuit of your other graduate degree, but you will not be able to receive Soros support for that degree if you have already begun a third or subsequent year of work on that degree.