The Austrian Fulbright Program in brief

The program was initially proposed and sponsored by U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright (Arkansas) in 1946. The legislation, best known as the Fulbright Act, authorized the Secretary of State to use proceeds from the sale of surplus war property outside the United States after the Second World War to finance exchanges of students, teachers, and professors. According to the official text of the Fulbright Act, the purpose of the Program is "to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the peoples of other nations."

The new Act made available an unprecedented amount of funding for exchange programs and stipulated that awards be granted to foreigners to teach or study in the U.S.A. as well as to U.S. citizens to teach and study abroad. It also introduced a new concept for exchange agreements by providing for program administration based on binational commissions. In 1961, various pieces of legislation affecting educational exchange were consolidated into the Fulbright-Hays Act. This Act broadened the scope of the Fulbright Program, gave it new flexibility, assured funding in dollars as well as foreign currencies, and authorized the receipt of contributions from other governments.

The Fulbright Program currently facilitates the exchange of students and scholars between the United States and 140 countries, 50 of which have binational commissions. Since its inception in 1946, over 250,000 students, teachers, and scholars have participated in the Fulbright Program: approximately 94,000 U.S. citizens and 155,600 citizens from around the world. Approximately 4,500 Fulbright grants are awarded annually. Over 3,140 Austrians and 2,130 Americans have participated in the Austrian-American program since 1951.

The Austrian Fulbright Program celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2000. The Fulbright Program in Austria was established on June 6, 1950 when the two governments signed the Fulbright Agreement, and the first exchanges under its auspices took place during the 1951-52 academic year. A new Fulbright Agreement between the Republic of Austria and the United States of America that was concluded on June 25, 1963, established the Austrian-American Educational Commission (Fulbright Commission), and provided the basis for the binational funding of the program.

Joint decision-making and joint funding are characteristic of the Austrian Fulbright Program. The Austrian-American Educational Commission consists of five Austrian and five U.S. members who are nominated by their respective governments to serve on the Commission Board for calendar years, and the Commission's chairperson rotates annually between the Austrian and U.S. members of the Board. The Austrian Minister of Science and the Ambassador of the United States of America to Austria serve as honorary chairpersons of the Commission.

Since 1950, approximately EURO 29 million have been expended by the Austrian-American Educational Commission. The U.S. Government provided sole funding for the program until 1963, when the binational commission was established and the Austrian government placed ATS 60 million from European Recovery Program (ERP or Marshall Plan) funds at its disposal, ATS 7.5 million of which was earmarked for the establishment of American Studies centers at Austrian universities. Since 1985, the Austrian government has also directly funded the program. The Austrian-American Educational Commission currently funds its program using the direct annual contributions of the Austrian and U.S. governments, which are augmented by income from the Austrian government's initial ERP endowment, and through the joint funding of grants with partner organizations, including the Universities of Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Linz, Salzburg, and Vienna, the Sigmund Freud Society, Vienna, the Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften, Vienna, and the Diplomatic Academy, Vienna.

The Austrian-American Educational Commission celebrated the centennial birthday of J. William Fulbright with a ceremonial act at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna on 8 April, 2005.

The Austrian-American Educational Commission (Fulbright Commission) endeavors to update
the information on this site on a regular basis, but cannot guarantee its accuracy at all times.