Organizer Information
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is a US postgraduate fellowship program founded in 1997 by Hungarian immigrants and philanthropists Paul and Daisy Soros, established with an initial charitable trust and later expanded through additional contributions to the organization's endowment. The Fellowship was created to give back to the country that afforded the Soros family significant opportunity, and to support immigrants and children of immigrants at pivotal stages of their graduate education. Paul Soros studied mechanical engineering and went on to found an international engineering firm, while Daisy Soros has been an active philanthropist across cultural and educational institutions in New York. Since its founding, the program states it has awarded more than 805 Fellows from 103 countries, distributing over $80 million toward graduate study across fields ranging from screenwriting and painting to physics, law, medicine, and engineering. The Fellowship maintains a lifelong alumni community through the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows Association (PDSFA).
Title & Description
Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship 2027 for New Americans
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is seeking 30 of the most promising New Americans who will go on to make distinctive contributions to American society, culture, or their field. The Fellowship is a merit-based, holistic program open to applicants from different backgrounds, fields, stages of educational development, and ages, providing financial support for graduate study alongside visibility, credibility, and a lifelong professional community. Each Fellow serves as an example of the contributions that immigrants and refugees bring to the United States.
Categories
- Scholarship
- Fellowship
- Multiple Disciplines
Eligibility
- Applicants must be 30 years or younger as of the application deadline; there is no minimum age requirement
- Applicants must be a "New American" — an immigrant or the child of immigrants — meeting one of the program's specific immigration-status categories (naturalized US citizen, green card holder, asylee/refugee, DACA recipient, or someone who graduated from both high school and college in the US), as detailed in the source's eligibility requirements
- Applicants must be planning to start or continue a full-time, fully-accredited graduate or professional degree program in the United States for the 2027–2028 academic year; online and hybrid programs are eligible
- Applicants must have a bachelor's degree by fall 2027, and can already hold a previous graduate degree
- Applicants already enrolled in a graduate program must not have started the third year of that program as of the application deadline
- Ineligible programs include executive graduate programs, joint bachelor's/master's programs awarding both degrees simultaneously, certificate programs, post-baccalaureate programs, non-US graduate programs, and non-accredited programs
- Selection is made without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or other protected characteristics, and the program has no quotas by degree type, university, or country of origin
Program Benefits & Awards
- Up to $90,000 total in financial support toward graduate education over one to two years
- Up to $25,000 per year in stipend support, paid directly to the Fellow, for up to two years
- Up to $20,000 per year in tuition support, paid directly to the university, for up to two years
- Two all-expenses-paid weekends in New York City during the first two years as a Fellow, including the annual Fall Conference
- A campus visit from the Fellowship's director or deputy director during the first fall semester
- Lifelong membership in the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows Association (PDSFA) alumni network
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- Completed online application (submitted through the Fellowship's application platform)
- Optional exhibits (per the source's FAQ, addressing submission of collaborative or technical works)
- Academic transcripts, as referenced in the source's academic-status FAQ
- Documentation of New American status, including naturalization or immigration status documents as required
- Note: the source text provided does not include a fully itemized list of required application materials (e.g., essays, recommendation letters); only the items above are explicitly referenced
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 29 October 2026
- Finalist Notification: Mid-January 2027
- Virtual Interviews with 77 Finalists: February 2027
- Fellows Notified: March 2027
- 2027 Fellows Announced Publicly & 2028 Application Opens: Mid-April 2027
- Fellowship & Funding Begins: Fall 2027
Location
New York City, United States
Additional Details
- From an applicant pool of approximately 77 finalists, 30 will ultimately be selected as Fellows
- Fellows must remain in good academic standing throughout the Fellowship and are not permitted to work full-time during their funded graduate program
- Fellows must submit an exit report at the close of their two years of active funding
- Further terms and requirements are provided in a contract signed by selected applicants upon acceptance