Founded in 1978 in honor of the late Senator and Vice President, the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program provides 10 months of professional enrichment and non-degree graduate-level study in the United States for accomplished mid-level professionals from designated countries.

Fellows are nominated by U.S. Embassies or Fulbright Commissions based on their potential for leadership and a demonstrated commitment to public service. The program provides a basis for lasting ties between citizens of the United States and their professional counterparts in other countries. It fosters an exchange of knowledge and mutual understanding, through which the United States joins in a significant partnership with developing countries.

Fellows are placed in groups by professional field at selected U.S. universities offering specially designed programs of study and training.  The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, appointed by the President, has overall responsibility and awards the fellowships. The Institute of International Education (IIE), a private not-for-profit educational exchange agency, currently administers the program in cooperation with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the Department of State. For more information, please visit IIE's Humphrey Fellowship Program website.

Fellowships are granted competitively to professional candidates in a variety of fields, including:

• economic development/finance and banking


• agricultural and rural development


• natural resources, environmental policy, and climate change


• human resource management


• communications/journalism


• teaching of English as a foreign language


• educational administration, planning, and policy


• substance abuse education, treatment, and prevention


• HIV/AIDS policy and prevention


• public health policy and management


• public policy analysis and public administration


• law and human rights


• urban and regional planning


• trafficking in persons - policy and prevention


• technology policy and management


• higher education administration