Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program honors the contributions of immigrants and children of immigrants to the United States.
About Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
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Opportunity Details
Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program honors the contributions of immigrants and children of immigrants to the United States. Each year, we invest in the graduate education of 30 New Americans—immigrants and children of immigrants—who are poised to make significant contributions to US society, culture, or their academic field. Each Fellow receives up to $90,000 in financial support over two years, and they join a lifelong community of New American Fellows.
The competition is merit-based and highly competitive; last year, we received more than 2,600 applications. Every year we select 77 finalists who receive interviews, and then 30 Fellows are selected from that group.
Selection criteria emphasize creativity, originality, initiative, and sustained accomplishment, and we value a commitment to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The program does not have any quotas for types of degrees, universities or programs, countries of origin, or any other factor. Selection of Fellows from among eligible applicants is made without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or any other protected characteristic. Unsuccessful applicants are welcome to reapply in subsequent years if they are still eligible.
Benefits of Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
- The Fellows will begin to receive stipend and tuition support from the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships program in the fall of 2026, and
- they will also attend the Fellowship’s Fall Conference, all expenses paid, that October.
Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans Requirements
You may apply for a Fellowship in 2026 if the following is true as of the October 30, 2025 application deadline:
You are 30 years or younger
You must be 30 or younger as of the application deadline. There is no minimum age requirement.
You are a New American
- You are an immigrant or the child of immigrants. If you are an immigrant, you should be a naturalized US citizen, a green card holder, an asylee or refugee, or someone who graduated from both high school and college in the United States.
You are planning on starting or continuing an eligible graduate or professional degree program
- You must be planning to be enrolled in a full-time degree-granting graduate or professional program in the United States in the 2026-2027 academic year. The Fellowship is open to all fields of study and you can apply when you’re applying to graduate school or while you’re in the early years of graduate school.
Your New American Status
General requirements:
- You are an immigrant or the child of immigrants.
- Your birth parents must have both been born outside of the US as non-US citizens, and both parents must not have been eligible for US citizenship at the time of their births.
- Your parents’ current immigration status or location is not relevant. Some Fellows’ parents never immigrated, some have returned to their country of origin, others have naturalized or received their green cards in the US, and others are living in the United States but have not naturalized.
Your Academic Standing
General requirements:
- You will have a bachelor’s degree as of the fall of 2026 when the 2026 Fellowship will begin. You can have a previous graduate degree.
- You are planning on starting or continuing an eligible fully-accredited graduate or professional degree program full-time in the United States in the 2026-2027 academic year. Online programs are eligible for Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships funding.
- You can apply to graduate school at the same time that you are applying for the Fellowship. You do not need to have been admitted into a graduate program when you apply.
- If you are already in graduate school when you apply, you must not have started the third year of the degree program you are seeking funding for as of the October 30, 2025 application deadline.
Application Date and Process
- Confirm your eligibility
- Your demographic and contact information
- Your higher-education history
- The graduate program[s] for which you seek support
- Recommendations (3 required, up to 5 accepted)
- Required submissions: Resume, two essays, transcripts (college, graduate), scores of standardized tests (if they are or were required for admission to your graduate program)
Returning Applicants:
If you have applied to, or been familiar with previous Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship competitions, please note that:
- You will not be able to resubmit your previous application.
- You will be required to upload your resume essays, transcripts, standardized test scores and optional test scores through the application system.
- Recommendations must be submitted online, through the application system. We will not be able to re-use past recommendations.
Essay Questions
Essay One – maximum length 1000 words
- Tell us about your experiences as a New American. Whether as an immigrant yourself, or as a child of immigrants, how have your experiences as a New American informed and shaped who you are and your accomplishments?
- Feel free to discuss how individual people (such as family or teachers), institutions, aspects of law, culture, society or American governance made an impact on your life as an immigrant or child of immigrants. The program is interested in understanding the context of your personal, professional, and academic accomplishments.
Essay Two – maximum length 1000 words
- Tell us about your current and near-term career-related activities and goals, as well as why you decided to pursue the specific graduate program(s) and school(s) that you have. How do you see your current work and study informing your early career goals? If you have not been accepted into a program yet, please tell us about why you selected the programs to which you are applying.
The application and all recommendations are due by October 30, 2025 at 2:00 pm ET. No exceptions. Please note that all applications are reviewed after October 30, 2025 and applications are not reviewed on a rolling basis. They strongly recommend that you submit before October 30, 2025 because there will be quite a bit of traffic on the site on the final day which will slow down the system.
The application should be completed on a desktop or laptop computer. Once you complete the eligibility portion of the application you will be able to register your recommenders.
Apply Here
Application Deadline
30 October, 2025
Scholarship Application Portal
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Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
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