Next deadline: October 2025
Recorded Info Sessions (opens external site)
The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships support new Americans in their graduate study in any subject, anywhere in the United States. Applicants should be leaders who can give evidence of creativity, accomplishment, and commitment to the U.S. Constitution, and for whom graduate education is relevant to their long-term career goals. The merit-based Fellowship provides $25,000 maintenance and up to $20,000 for tuition per annum wherever the Fellow attends, up to $90,000.
Prospective applicants should make an individual advising appointment with Keila Diehl, the Soros Fellowship campus representative.
Eligibility Requirements
You may apply for a 2025-26 Fellowship if the following is true as of the October 31st application deadline:
- New American Status – Whether you were born in the U.S. or abroad, your birth parents must have both been born outside of the U.S. as non-U.S. citizens, and both parents must not have been eligible for U.S. citizenship at the time of their births. If you were born in the U.S., you must be the child of two immigrants. If you were born abroad, you must be a naturalized U.S. citizen, possess a valid green card, have been granted refugee or asylee status in the U.S., or have graduated from both high school and college in the U.S. (this applies to DACA recipients and applicants who will graduate from college by the Fall of 2025)
- Academic Standing – You should be planning to be enrolled full-time in an eligible, accredited, professional or graduate degree program at a U.S. university for the Fall 2025–2026 academic year. In addition, you must not have begun the third year of the program you are seeking funding for as of the October 2024 deadline. Applicants who have a previous graduate degree or who are in a joint-degree program are eligible. Ineligible programs: executive graduate programs, part-time programs, joint bachelors/master’s programs where the bachelor’s is not received by the spring of 2025, certificate programs, post-baccalaureate programs, graduate programs that are not in the U.S., and graduate programs that are not fully accredited
- Age – You must not have reached your 31st birthday as of the application deadline
Selection Criteria
Applicants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- demonstrated creativity, originality and initiative in one or more aspects of their life
- commitment to and capacity for accomplishment that has required drive and sustained effort
- commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights (e.g., 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)
- give promise of continued significant contributions that reflect distinctive creativity, originality and initiative and will mark the candidate as a leading and influential figure in her/his fields of endeavor
- pursuing graduate training that is relevant to her/his long-term career goals and is of potential value in enhancing her/his future creativity and accomplishment.
Application Requirements
- Completed online application (opens external site)
- Letters of recommendation (3 required, up to 5 accepted) – Guidance for Recommenders PDF (opens external site)
- Resume
- Two essays (1,000 words each)
- All college and university transcripts
- Standardized test scores (if required for admission to graduate program)
- Optional exhibits
For more information about this opportunity, visit the P. D. Soros Fellowship website (opens external site).