MUMBAI: The Nehru-Fulbright Master’s Fellowship, a prestigious funding program for studying in the US, has announced that Indian government officials will no longer be eligible for the two-year scholarship starting from the 2026-27 cohort. This decision comes amid a funding freeze on international scholarships led by the Trump administration.
Notably, policy administration— a preferred field for Indian civil servants— has been removed from the list of eligible study areas. Indian government officers have traditionally comprised 30-40% of the selected candidates under the United States-India Education Foundation (USIEF) program.
As per this year’s application guidelines, “Employees of the Government of India and Indian State Governments are not eligible for any Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships. This includes civil servants in central services (IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, and allied services), state government services (including state civil services), and bureaucratic staff in central and state ministries or departments.”
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that they are unaware of the reasons behind this decision.
