The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Iraqi Fulbright scholars to resume studies

The department will be re-establishing a Fulbright Scholarship Program in Iraq, he said. Up to 20 Iraqi students will arrive in the United States to continue their master’s degrees “as early as next year.”

The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which runs the Fulbright Program, is also developing plans to send American students to Iraq as soon as possible.

“The hope is to make this a reciprocal program,” Mier said.

Although it is not yet known where the Iraqi students will pursue their studies — it will depend on their area of study — they will study “course work that will help Iraqis rebuild Iraq,” Mier said. Probable areas of study include law, public administration, public health, business and economics.

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It is also uncertain if Marquette will receive any of these students, though it has hosted Fulbright recipients in the past, said Ellen Blauw, associate director of campus international programs.

“We have had students over the years who have had funding from the Fulbright program,” she said. “In recent years, we’ve had three or four.”

Blauw said most of the students who received Fulbright aid to attend Marquette were from Latin America and the Middle East and studied engineering, technical programs and communication.

“Those are areas that countries building their infrastructure like to have their students study,” she said.

The Fulbright Program has a long history of working with Iraqi students.

“The program was in operation from 1952 to 1990,” Mier said, but it was “suspended due to Iraq-Iran conflict” and was not renewed until this year. The delay in reestablishing the Fulbright Program in Iraq was not voluntary, however.

According to Mier, the program was restarted as soon as possible.

“We’re glad to have it re-established,” he said.

The sentiment is echoed by Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Patricia Harrison’s statements in a press release.

“I am extremely pleased that we were able to announce the re-establishment of the Fulbright program in Iraq in such a rapid manner,” she said.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” according to its mission statement.

The program, which now operates in 140 countries, derives its name from Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright, who introduced the legislation that led to its founding.

The Fulbright Scholarships are bankrolled with money provided by both the federal government and private foundations and companies, according to its most recent annual report.