The 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 2,300 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 gender, etc. Unsuccessful applicants are welcome to reapply in subsequent years if they are still eligible.
Full eligibility requirements can be found here. If you are interested in connecting with a university fellowship advisor, you can find a list of university's with advisors here.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the 2025 Fellowship, you must meet the following requirements as of the October 31, 2024 application deadline:
- New American Status - Whether you were born in the United States or abroad, 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 respective births*. If you were born in the US then you must be the child of two immigrants. If you were born abroad then you must be a naturalized US citizen, possess a valid green card, have been granted refugee or asylee status in the US, or have graduated from both high school and college in the United States (this final category is inclusive of DACA recipients and applicants who will graduate from college by the Fall of 2025 are eligible).
*If you were raised by only one of your birth parents, the parent who raised you must have been born abroad as a non-US citizen, and your second birth parent must not have been part of your life growing up and is someone you have no contact with.
- Academic Standing - You should be planning to be enrolled full time in an eligible, accredited, professional or graduate degree program at a US university for the full 2025-26 academic year. In addition, you must not have begun the third year of the program you are seeking funding for as of the October 31, 2024 deadline. Applicants who have a previous graduate degree or who are in a joint-degree program are eligible. Online programs are now eligible. Ineligible programs: Executive graduate programs, part-time programs, joint bachelors/master's programs where the bachelor’s is not received by the spring of 2025, certificate programs, post-baccalaureate programs, graduate programs that are not in the United States, and graduate programs that are not fully accredited.
- Age - You must not have reached or passed your 31st birthday as of the application deadline. There is no minimum age requirement.
About the Application
The application and all recommendations are due by October 31, 2024 at 2:00 pm ET. No exceptions. Please note that all applications are reviewed after October 31, 2024 and applications are not reviewed on a rolling basis. We strongly recommend that you submit before October 31, 2024 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.
Questions: You can find information on our Q&A page. If you’ve explored these options, you can give us a call or send us an e-mail at pdsoros@pdsoros.org. We are available 9 - 5pm ET Monday through Friday. If you have any technical questions, please email SurveyMonkey support at support@smapply.io. SurveyMonkey support is available Monday through Friday 8am - 8pm ET.
2025 Application for The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
The 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 2,300 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 gender, etc. Unsuccessful applicants are welcome to reapply in subsequent years if they are still eligible.
Full eligibility requirements can be found here. If you are interested in connecting with a university fellowship advisor, you can find a list of university's with advisors here.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the 2025 Fellowship, you must meet the following requirements as of the October 31, 2024 application deadline:
- New American Status - Whether you were born in the United States or abroad, 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 respective births*. If you were born in the US then you must be the child of two immigrants. If you were born abroad then you must be a naturalized US citizen, possess a valid green card, have been granted refugee or asylee status in the US, or have graduated from both high school and college in the United States (this final category is inclusive of DACA recipients and applicants who will graduate from college by the Fall of 2025 are eligible).
*If you were raised by only one of your birth parents, the parent who raised you must have been born abroad as a non-US citizen, and your second birth parent must not have been part of your life growing up and is someone you have no contact with.
- Academic Standing - You should be planning to be enrolled full time in an eligible, accredited, professional or graduate degree program at a US university for the full 2025-26 academic year. In addition, you must not have begun the third year of the program you are seeking funding for as of the October 31, 2024 deadline. Applicants who have a previous graduate degree or who are in a joint-degree program are eligible. Online programs are now eligible. Ineligible programs: Executive graduate programs, part-time programs, joint bachelors/master's programs where the bachelor’s is not received by the spring of 2025, certificate programs, post-baccalaureate programs, graduate programs that are not in the United States, and graduate programs that are not fully accredited.
- Age - You must not have reached or passed your 31st birthday as of the application deadline. There is no minimum age requirement.
About the Application
The application and all recommendations are due by October 31, 2024 at 2:00 pm ET. No exceptions. Please note that all applications are reviewed after October 31, 2024 and applications are not reviewed on a rolling basis. We strongly recommend that you submit before October 31, 2024 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.
Questions: You can find information on our Q&A page. If you’ve explored these options, you can give us a call or send us an e-mail at pdsoros@pdsoros.org. We are available 9 - 5pm ET Monday through Friday. If you have any technical questions, please email SurveyMonkey support at support@smapply.io. SurveyMonkey support is available Monday through Friday 8am - 8pm ET.