Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program

Education, International Education, Eurasia

The Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program brings emerging leaders in key professional fields from Eurasia to the United States for one to two years of graduate study at institutions across the United States.

Through their academic studies, internships, and community service, fellows come in close contact with Americans and make direct connections with American universities, businesses, social-service organizations, schools, and other institutions, allowing them to develop a deeper understanding of U.S. values and ideals, such as democratic leadership.

Returning Muskie alumni share their firsthand understanding of American culture and democratic values in their home-country workplaces and communities and take leadership roles in the nonprofit, private, and government sectors. The Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

Application Information

• Information for Host Universities

• Information for Applicants

Goals

Promote mutual understanding, build democracy, and foster the transition to market economies in Eurasia through intensive academic study and professional training. Returning Muskie fellows contribute professionally, engage in democratic processes in their home countries, and strengthen U.S./home-country relationships.

• Select a strong cadre of diverse, high-quality Muskie fellows.

• Develop fellows’ professional knowledge and skills, and understanding of democratic processes.

• Expand ties between Americans and Muskie fellows.

Background

Established by Congress in 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Muskie Program remains equally important today to ensure that countries in the region continue healthy economic and democratic growth. The Muskie Program allows emerging leaders to gain skills and knowledge in fields they often cannot study in their home countries—such as public health, environmental policy, and human rights law—allowing them to make valuable contributions in key professional sectors after returning home.

Project Activities

Graduate Study: Muskie fellows enroll in full-time non-degree or degree programs at IREX’s partner universities, enriching graduate classrooms with new international perspectives and valuable professional experience on the ground. Eligible fields of study for the Muskie Program are business administration, economics, education, environmental management, international affairs, journalism and mass communication, law, library and information science, public administration, public health, and public policy.

Community Service: All Muskie fellows give back at least 40 hours of service to their American host communities during the fellowship, completing a volunteer project related to their graduate field of study. Fellows provide skilled pro bono hours to mentor local small businesses, counsel homeowners on the brink of foreclosure, and develop partnerships between local schools and counterparts abroad.

Internships: Following the first year of graduate study, Muskie fellows complete an internship in their professional field, gaining technical skills, bringing an international perspective to the workplace, and allowing employers to expand their connections abroad.

Alumni Programming: Muskie alumni are eligible to apply for small grants to conduct community service projects, organize conferences or trainings, or release publications of scholarly work in their home countries.