Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia and Central Asia (Global UGRAD)

Undergraduate Study: Global UGRAD fellows are placed at accredited universities and colleges throughout the United States for a yearlong program of full-time study.

Community Service: Fellows give back to their American host communities by contributing a minimum of 20 hours of volunteer work during the year. In recent years, nearly 90% of the fellows performed community service beyond the minimum requirement, volunteering over 2,700 hours that helped more than 25,000 individuals and 280 organizations. Fellows have volunteered in a variety of settings, such as after-school tutoring and enrichment programs, blood drives, community fundraisers, reconstruction work in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, and disaster relief during the Fargo, North Dakota floods.

Internships: In addition to their second semester academic studies, fellows complete part-time internships, gaining experience in the American workplace and developing relationships with local businesses, Congressional, city, and county government offices, nonprofit organizations and other institutions.

Country Presentations: Fellows each give two required presentations during the fellowship, sharing their countries’ histories and traditions with Americans at their host institutions and in off-campus settings such as schools, retirement homes, and Rotary clubs.

Cultural Passport to America: At the start of the fellowship, each participant receives a “Cultural Passport to America”, which is modeled to look loosely like a U.S. passport. For participation in cultural events and activities, Global UGRAD fellows receive Passport stamps from their university and college advisors, allowing staff to track the activities of their students in a fun but structured way. Through the Passport, fellows present how they have explored various aspects of U.S. culture and the linkages they’ve forged with Americans over the program year. The Passport also guides students in reflecting on how they’ve served as cultural ambassadors for their home countries while in the United States, and on their plans for sharing U.S. culture with their communities when returning home.

Alumni Programming (Small Grants): Global UGRAD 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.