27 March 2002

PM Announces Increase In Funding For Fulbright Programme

Prime Minister Helen Clark announced in Washington DC today an increase of $200,000 in the government’s contribution made through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Fulbright New Zealand.

The late US Senator J. William Fulbright established the Fulbright Programme in 1946. The Programme sponsors the exchange of postgraduate students and research scholars to and from the United States. MFAT’s contribution to Fulbright New Zealand is rising from $300,000 to $500,000 per annum.

Helen Clark said that Fulbright NZ makes a very valuable contribution to educational exchanges between New Zealand and the United States. At present Fulbright supports approximately fifty students and scholars every year: 25 New Zealanders and 25 Americans.

“The Fulbright Programme is highly regarded as one of the most prestigious academic exchange programmes in the world. New Zealand Fulbright grantees are able to take advantage of this association with excellence, gaining offers of admission and supplementary funding packages from the top universities in the United States. Currently fifty young New Zealanders are studying on Fulbright Awards at prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and Columbia.

“Thus Fulbright Awards allow young and talented New Zealanders the chance to make contacts and form networks with other future leaders in their field from both the US and the rest of the world. The Fulbright Programme also brings students and academics from the US to New Zealand.

“Since New Zealand signed its Fulbright Agreement in 1948, over 1200 New Zealanders have travelled to the US on Fulbright Awards and over 1000 Americans have visited New Zealand.

“The New Zealanders represent some of our most talented people. They include 2000 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, Alan MacDiarmid; writers Bill Manhire and Maurice Shadbolt; former Prime Minister Sir Wallace Rowling; businessmen John Fernyhough, Graham Stuart and John Beattie; and musicians Gareth Farr, Bridgit Douglas and Alexa Still,” Helen Clark said.

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