After setting a record percentage of LVC applicants reaching the semi-final stage last year (6-8, 75%), the Fulbright Program announced that five of seven applicants (71%) were forwarded to the final stage of consideration for the 2024-25 academic year. The prestigious Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government with a rigorous merit-based selection process.

These scholars hope to add to the 17 LVC students and alumni named Fulbright Finalists in the past eight years.

During their grants, Fulbrighters will meet, work, live with, and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think.

Three of the five LVC Fulbright Semi-finalists for 2024-25 applied for awards leading to a master’s degree in the United Kingdom and Taiwan. In the UK, one of the students hopes to study Wild Animal Biology, while another hopes to study Analytical and Polymer Science. The Taiwan applicant intends to study International Human Resource Development. In addition to these applicants to Fulbright partner master’s programs, a student plans to conduct research on immigration in Czechia, and another intends to be an English Teaching Assistant in Slovakia. They represent LVC’s ACS Chemistry, Biology, Business Administration, Global Studies, International Business, Marketing, Political Science, and Social Justice & Civic Engagement majors, and one holds a French concentration.

Lebanon Valley College has been recognized as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution in three of the past seven years and will learn on Feb. 13 if it will receive the honor for a fourth time.

Dr. Philip Benesch, Director of External Scholarships and Fellowships, Director of Pre-Law, and Associate Professor of Political Science, has worked closely with LVC applicants in the past eight years. He has mentored several other applicants for distinguished national and international awards, including the Critical Language Scholarship Chinese Language Program, Goldwater Scholarships, Boren Scholarship, Truman Scholarship, and Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship.

About the Fulbright U.S. Student Program 

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program expands perspectives through academic and professional advancement and cross-cultural dialogue. Fulbright creates connections in a complex and changing world. In partnership with more than 140 countries worldwide, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers unparalleled opportunities in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from all backgrounds. Program participants pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English abroad.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) administers the Program under policy guidelines established by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB) in close coordination with binational commissions and foundations in 49 countries, U.S. embassies in more than 100 countries, and cooperating agencies in the United States.

Learn more about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.