The number of GW graduates who received Fulbright scholarships this year more than doubled, making the University one of the top 10 producers of Fulbright Scholars and putting it ahead of Princeton University and on par with Harvard University.

GW ranks sixth across the country for producing Fulbright Scholars, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported last week. Twenty-three GW alumni are receiving some form of the prestigious scholarship, which offers recipients funding to study, teach and conduct research for the 2009-2010 academic year.

The University also earned the No. 2 spot for the highest yield of students applying for and receiving Fulbright scholarships. Thirty-one percent of GW applicants received the award – seven percent higher than the yield rate of Harvard students. Stanford University, the school with the highest yield, surpassed GW by only one percentage point.

Paul Hoyt-O’Connor, director of GW’s Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research, said the award is highly selective and that the GW recipients are currently working abroad in multiple countries and continents – as far away as Germany, China and Indonesia.

“The Fulbright is one of the more prestigious fellowships and probably the most prestigious when it comes to academic exchange programs,” Hoyt-O’Connor said. “I think GW should be proud.”

Hoyt-O’Connor said the increase in number of recipients at GW was caused by an increase in the number of students who applied, but also by changes in the overall caliber of the applicants.

“Given GW’s international orientation, I think there’s a way that GW students are very strong when it comes to these kind of programs,” Hoyt-O’Connor said. “I think the other thing is that some of the undergraduate research programs at GW that have been around for a few years are stronger, so undergraduates have strong research experiences that, when they apply for a research Fulbright grant, make them much more qualified.”

Donald Lehman, executive vice president for Academic Affairs, agreed that the quality of students sets GW applicants apart.

“Such success by our students in being awarded such highly competitive fellowships brings further affirmation of the quality of GW’s students and the education they are gaining while at GW,” Lehman said in an e-mail.

For Fulbright recipient Alexandra Usher – who graduated from the Elliott School of International Affairs last year – the Fulbright award was a welcome option in a tough job market.

“Doing something like the Fulbright program is a great way to travel, get to know another culture and make some money while the economy is so tough back at home,” Usher said in an e-mail from her teaching assistantship in Nürnberg, Germany.

Usher said the program offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make an impact abroad.

“The Fulbright program serves a really important function, breaking down myths about Americans and building connections with other countries,” Usher said. “The kids [I teach] want to learn anything and everything about the U.S. and probably the most important part of my job is correcting misconceptions they have about America. I’ve been asked so many times whether every American owns a gun, and if it’s true that we eat fast food at least once a day.”

The Fulbright Scholarship Program was created with the help of GW Law School alumnus and former U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” according to the program’s Web site.

The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and awards 1,500 grants each year to selected graduate and undergraduate applicants and allows participants to go abroad for research or to teach English in classrooms.