Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
Website: The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans open_in_new
Eligibility
You must be 30 or younger as of the application deadline. There is no minimum age requirement.
You are an immigrant or the child of immigrants. If you are an immigrant, you should be a naturalized US citizen, a green card holder, an asylee or refugee, or someone who graduated from both high school and college in the United States.
You are planning on starting or continuing an eligible graduate or professional degree program. The Fellowship is open to all fields of study and you can apply when you’re applying to graduate school or while you’re in the early years of graduate school.
- senior
- graduate
- US Citizen
- Permanent Resident
- Undocumented
Description
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program honors the contributions of immigrants to the United States. Every Year, the Foundation invests in the graduate education of 30 New Americans - immigrants and the children of immigrants - who are poised to make significant contributions to US society, culture or their academic fields.
Each Fellowship supports up to two years of graduate study - in any field and in any advanced degree-granting program - in the United States. Please note that the Fellowship does not cover tuition for executive programs, accelerated Bachelor's/Master's programs, or online degrees.
Each award is for up to a total of $90,000. Here is the break down: Each Fellow receives $25,000 in stipend support a year (all stipend awards are capped at $50,000 per year), as well as 50 percent of required tuition and fees, up to $20,000 per year, for one to two years. The first year of Fellowship funding cannot be deferred.
New Fellows join a strong community of current and past Fellows who all share the New American experience.
The competition is merit-based. Selection criteria emphasize creativity, originality, initiative, and sustained accomplishment. The program values a commitment to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The program does not have any quotas for types of degrees, universities or programs, countries of origin, or gender, etc.
Unsuccessful applicants are welcome and encouraged to reapply in subsequent years if they are still eligible.
Procedure
Apply online at https://www.pdsoros.org/apply/online-application.
The application includes the following sections:
- A confirmation of your eligibility
- Your personal and contact information
- Your higher-education history
- The graduate program[s] for which you seek support
- Recommendations (3 required, up to 5 accepted)
- Required submissions: Resume, two essays, transcripts (college, graduate), scores of standardized tests (if they are or were required for admission to your graduate program)
- Optional exhibits
Documentation:
We have minimized the official documents required to confirm eligibility, educational, and test results. If you are asked to be a finalist, however, we will specify the official documents that we will need from you before we can invite you to the finalist interviews.
Essay Questions
Essay One - maximum length 1000 words
Tell us about your experiences as a New American. Whether as an immigrant yourself, or as a child of immigrants, how have your experiences as a New American informed and shaped who you are and your accomplishments?
Feel free to discuss how individual people (such as family or teachers), institutions, aspects of law, culture, society or American governance made an impact on your life as an immigrant or child of immigrants. The program is interested in understanding the context of your personal, professional, and academic accomplishments.
Essay Two – maximum length 1000 words
Tell us about your current and near-term career-related activities and goals, as well as why you decided to pursue the specific graduate program(s) and school(s) that you have. How do you see your current work and study informing your early career goals? If you have not been accepted into a program yet, please tell us about why you selected the programs to which you are applying.