US State Department freeze funding for programmes and leave scholars stranded
Payments were abruptly cut off, leaving many stranded outside their home countries and their futures up in the air.
The US State Department temporarily paused spending in February in an effort to review its programmes and activities. Photo: APFulbright scholar Aubrey Lay was supposed to get paid for three months of work by the United States government through his teaching assistantship at a school for Ukrainian refugees in Estonia.
Instead, he only got about one week’s pay and no word on when he might see the rest of his grant.
Lay is among scholars around the world who depend on the US State Department’s funding to participate in long-established programmes like Fulbright.
Many say their payments were abruptly cut off after being notified that officials were reviewing their activities.
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The move appears to align with the White House’s initiative to sharply slash government spending, a shake-up that has affected scores of federal agencies.
The government faces even more dramatic changes in the coming weeks and months.
US President Donald Trump has directed agencies to prepare plans for widespread lay-offs – known as reductions in force – that is likely to require more limited operations at agencies providing critical services.
The funding freeze has sparked panic among thousands of scholars stranded outside their home countries without clarity on the future of their programmes or the money needed to support themselves.
In February, the US State Department temporarily paused spending in an effort to review its programmes and activities, according to NAFSA, an association of international educators.
That included programmes like the prestigious Fulbright, Gilman and Critical Language international scholarships.
In the weeks since officials enacted the pause, some scholars and advocacy groups have said the flow of funds dried up for people’s grants, yet there is no communication from US officials on whether that will change.
The State Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry by Associated Press about the funding freeze.
Lay found the lack of communication from US officials troublesome.
He was also left wondering about the future of the programme that his grandmother also took part in decades ago. Established in 1946, the Fulbright programme has become a flagship part of the US government’s mission toward cross-cultural engagement.
What is worse for him is what it will mean for his students, especially if he is forced to leave early.
“I don’t want to be one more thing that is changing and uncertain in their lives,” Lay said. “I can’t bear that thought.”
Lay said he would be OK for another month but worries about participants who have no extra money saved.
“The clarity that I’ve gotten is that nobody knows what’s going on?” he said. “The clarity that I’ve gotten is that every time I’ve asked anybody, they don’t know what’s happening, and they are just as confused as I am, as we all are.”
Thousands of scholars are in similar positions to Lay, according to the Fulbright Association, a non-profit group comprising the programme’s alums.
In a newsletter email, the association said the halt in funding affects “over 12,500 American students, youth, and professionals currently abroad or scheduled to participate in State Department programmes in the next six months.”
Aside from US citizens, the Fulbright Association also said the pause has cut funding for US programmes hosting more than 7,400 people.
Halyna Morozova, a Fulbright scholar from Kyiv teaching Ukrainian to students at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, said she was at the airport on February 28 after what felt like a never-ending day.
Trump berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky earlier that day in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting. Her country’s future and her family back home weighed heavily on her mind.
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Then she got an email from the Institute of International Education – commonly called IIE – which administers the Fulbright scholarship.
“IIE is currently authorised to send you a partial stipend equivalent to one week of your anticipated upcoming stipend payment,” the email said. “We will update you on future payments as soon as possible.”
Morozova panicked. She usually gets US$750 (around HK$5,825) each month. Now, she has to stretch US$187.50 (around HK$1,456) to make ends meet.
“It was very scary, I would say, not just because I am lost in another country,” she said. “We don’t know if we will ever get another stipend here and if they have enough money to buy our tickets home. So there are a lot of things that are not clear and not certain.”
Olga Bezhanova, a professor who manages Morozova and two other scholars, said the exchange programme has been in place for nearly two decades at her university, becoming a bedrock of their language education. Now, she is trying to see if her university will supplement the funds being withheld by the federal government. She said she was unsure what else could be done if that did not work out.
“I have to look into the faces of these wonderful people, and they’re asking me: ‘Is this America? What is this?’” she said. “This is a mess.”