* The deadline for submission of completed applications is November 1, 2011.
The Basics
* Thirty Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans will be awarded in 2012 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 support for each year of graduate study supported, a total of as much as $90,000.
* To be eligible, you must be: *
o A New American (a green card holder or naturalized citizen if born abroad; a child of naturalized citizens if born in this country).
o Not yet 31 years old, as of the application deadline.
o A college senior or holder of a bachelor's degree.
o 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 of 2012. Reasonable expenses will be covered by the Fellowship Program.
* The 30 fellowship winners, selected from among the 77 finalists, will be announced in February of 2012.
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 (as a non citizen), you must, as of November 1, 2011, 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 1, 2011.
If you were born inside the United States, your parents must have been born outside the United States and at least one of them must be a naturalized citizens of this country.
2. Age
You must not have reached or passed your 31st birthday as of November 1, 2011. In other words, you must have been born on or after November 2, 1980.
3. Academic Standing
You must be a college senior in good standing or hold a bachelor's degree.
If you are currently enrolled in a graduate program in the United States, you must be in your first or second year in that program.
* If you continued in the same institution and department through a master's degree to candidacy for a PhD., the two year clock began when you started work on the master's degree, unless you were awarded your bachelor's degree and master's degree concurrently.
* If you are in a joint degree program, you must be scheduled to start in 2012 -- or be in the first or second year of -- the degree program that you would be pursuing under the fellowship in 2012-2013.
* Even if you have already been awarded - or will receive in the first half of 2012 -- a graduate degree, you are eligible to apply for support to cover study in a subsequent graduate degree program in the United States.
If you are a college senior, or will not be enrolled in a graduate program as of the application deadline, you will be expected to have
* decided on a field of study to begin in the Spring or Fall of 2012 and
* identified graduate programs in the United States to which you plan to apply.
What are the selection criteria?
The program uses three primary criteria for selection of fellows and expects that successful candidates will give strong evidence of at least the first two of the following:
1. The candidate has demonstrated creativity, originality and initiative in one or more aspects of her/his life.
2. The candidate has demonstrated a commitment to and capacity for accomplishment that has required drive and sustained effort.
3. The candidate has demonstrated a commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, This would include, but not be limited to, support of human rights and the rule of law, opposition to unwarranted encroachment on personal liberty, and advancing the responsibilities of citizenship in a free society.
In addition, the program considers two further criteria:
1. The candidate gives promise of continued significant contributions. Those contributions are likely to reflect distinctive creativity, originality and initiative and will mark the candidate as a leading and influential figure within her/his fields of endeavor.
2. The candidate's graduate training is relevant to her/his long-term career goals and is of potential value in enhancing her/his future creativity and accomplishment.
Note: We seek to create "a level playing field" for the consideration of applicants from different backgrounds, in different fields, at different stages in their educational development, and of different chronological ages. Because "New Americans" and their families have had very different immigration experiences, we take those differences into account in assessing applicants' success in meeting the selection criteria.
