Harper Wells
From attempting to acquire emergency funding from UT, to looking for jobs and praying that her monthly stipend would arrive, Fulbright scholar Eka Ratnasari found herself in a difficult position.
“I didn’t know what happened … I didn’t know what’s something (I could) do at (the) time,” Ratnasari said, a STEM education major and master’s student at UT Austin.
Starting on Feb. 12, disbursements from the State Department grant funding were paused, impacting those enrolled in international exchange programs such as the Fulbright Program. The expiration date for the freeze was Feb. 27. This was unmet, but since then the Department of State has redistributed 85% of payments that were withheld according to the National Association of International Educators (NAFSA).
Since its founding in 1961, the Fulbright Program has aimed to “increase mutual understanding and support friendly and peaceful relations” between the United States and countries across the world, according to the Fulbright Program’s mission statement on their website. The program sends scholars to different countries and provides funding for the individuals to apply or continue their projects while they are living in the host country.
In the two months when stipend expectations were not fulfilled, scholars did not receive the funding that the program offered. For Ratnasari, this meant having to pay out of pocket for her apartment in Austin to avoid penalties.
“It’s the end of February this year that we are waiting for (the) stipend payment,” Ratnasari said. “We are quite frustrated.”
LinkedIn and Handshake were only a couple of the job sites Ratnasari visited to try to find a way to fund her living without the support of the Fulbright Program at the time. But her position mid-semester while in an exchange program proved difficult.
“This is really hard for me to find a job,” Ratnasari said.
The financial support of the Fulbright program attracts scholars to apply, with the stipend being the source of funding for a scholar’s cost of living and transportation. This support allows the scholar to remain in their host country and continue their research projects.
For Alex Voisine, PhD candidate at UT and prospective Fulbright scholar, this means having the funds to live in Mexico and afford transportation to the country’s archives for his dissertation.
“This has added an extra level of stress for me,” Voisine said, considering the potential effects of the funding freeze on his application.
The effects of the freeze showed an extension beyond uncertainty with current and future scholars.
“I honestly was in fear,” said Tia Madkins, Fulbright alumnus and assistant professor at UT.
Madkins learned about the funding freeze through a student that reached out to her about the struggle they were facing.
“I burst into tears,” Madkins said. “I was just so heartbroken.”
Madkins pursued her research through the Fulbright program and stayed in Brazil for four months during the 2023-2024 term. The firsthand aspect of her trip to Brazil made the experience incredibly valuable, Madkins said.
“The things that I was able to do there and the kind of research I was able to engage in … that would not have happened had I not had the Fulbright,” Madkins said.
The Fulbright Program is an intense application, but it gives people like Ratnasari the opportunity to pursue further education with financial support. Ratnasari applied four times to receive Fulbright’s support because education in the U.S. is expensive, she said.
“My decision to come to (the) U.S. was a dream for me … especially for my masters.” Ratnasari said.
Reflecting on her own experience, Madkins said that the lack of funding from the Fulbright Program would have been an immense expense.
“I still had to pay rent while I was gone,” Madkins said. “Essentially, you’re supporting two homes.”
Because Fulbright aims to allow a scholar to live in a different country, accepted applicants must go through training over a long period of time before traveling to their host country.
“Even before we came into (the) United States, we’re supposed to wait one and a half year(s) to … (gain) English proficiency,” Ratnasari said, recalling her own experience in Indonesia before moving.
This is the case for some scholars. For other scholars, learning the host country’s language beforehand was not required. Madkins said even though she did not need to know the language, she found that learning Portuguese was an added benefit.
“That’s a big part of the Fulbright Program itself, Madkins said, “is the cultural immersion.”
In the lines of the program’s requirement to receive the award is a letter from a local university in your host country to ensure that the mission of meaningful relations is enforced.
“The Fulbright Program is unique in this requirement, and much good work and meaningful relations have emerged from the program over the past decades,” wrote J Brent Crosson in an email, current Fulbright scholar and associate professor in the religious studies department at UT.
The funding freeze has not been lifted, but a payment system has been gradually distributing funds that were previously withheld according to an update from NAFSA. In a recent statement from Texas Global, the Fulbright Program will continue with its upcoming 2026-2027 term.
“Texas Global restarted information sessions and writing workshops this week. By all accounts, individuals sponsored through the Fulbright Foreign Student Program and the Fulbright Scholar Program who had their stipends paused have also been reactivated,” wrote Texas Global in an email.
Certain benefits from the Fulbright Program will remain unavailable because of the furloughing of employees at the Institute of International Education, the organization that oversees the U.S. Fulbright Program, according to the statement.
The survival of the program itself is important to continue building international relations and giving scholars the opportunity to connect with other cultures. Even with the program’s complicated application process, Madkins said that having the opportunity to partake in an international education experience changed her life.
“It’s a beautiful experience,” Madkins said. “Not many people get that.”