OLF Information for Visiting Scholars | Fulbright Scholar Program

Non-U.S. Scholars

Each year roughly 850 faculty and professionals from around the world receive Fulbright Scholar awards for advanced research and university lecturing in the United States. Individual awards are available to scholars from over 100 countries.

Non-U.S. Scholars

U.S. Institutions

U.S. Higher Education institutions are instrumental to the success of the Fulbright mission. They are key allies in advancing the goal of sharing knowledge across communities, promoting mutual understanding across nations and improving lives around the world.

U.S. Institutions

OLF Overview

The Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF) provides funding for campuses to host Fulbright Visiting Scholars, already in the United States, for short-term speaking engagements. The OLF travel award is designed to enrich both institutions and Visiting Scholars through lectures that will promote academic disciplines and cultural understanding. Additionally, the OLF seeks to build relationships and partnerships with institutions that are currently underrepresented within the Fulbright Program as a means to promote future opportunities. These Priority Institutions include: Minority Serving Institutions, Community Colleges, Small Liberal Arts Colleges, Women’s Colleges and Art Colleges, and geographically underrepresented institutions.Please note that this program is institutionally driven, which means that a U.S. institution must submit the application materials on your behalf. As scholars, you may reach out to institutions letting them know of your interest in visiting their institution and that there are funds available through OLF to help offset the costs. Please direct institutions to our OLF Institutional page.

Visiting Scholar Eligibility

Fulbright Visiting Scholars, whose grant length exceeds three months, are strongly encouraged to maximize the impact of her/his exchange experience by giving lectures to various U.S. audiences of higher education. The U.S. Department of State provides these travel awards (through IIE/CIES) to scholars to help offset the cost of traveling within the United States to interested institutions.

Please note: Scholars will not receive funding for trips to meet with colleagues and friends in other parts of the United States, or to attend conferences. If scholars wish to attend conferences, we encourage you to also find a local Priority Institution (xlsx) to also lecture at to be in compliance with the Outreach Lecturing Fund’s eligibility.

Visiting Scholar Eligibility Criteria

The scholar must be on a grant of at least three months.
The application for a scholar to receive an OLF must be submitted by the host institution at least one month prior to proposed lecture.
The scholar cannot go on an OLF within the last month of their Fulbright Grant.
Each scholar wishing to attend an OLF must have a valid SSN or ITIN at the time of application. The scholar will upload a copy of their card to Scholar Portal.
The scholar must have a U.S. bank account and if they have not already registered for IIEPay, they can do so here. OLF funds will be directly transferred into the Scholar's U.S. bank account.
Travel must be at least 75 miles away from the scholars host institution to qualify for an OLF.

Benefits to Visiting Scholars

Visiting Scholars can benefit U.S. students and faculty of host institutions and their communities by discussing their Fulbright experience, speaking about their home culture and country, and by providing access and expertise in their fields. The Outreach Lecturing Fund allows scholars to gain a deeper understanding of Higher Education within the United States and experience other regions within the United States.

Additionally, Visiting Scholars are given the opportunity to gain professional development through these lectureships, while expanding their network.