FLORENCE, AL - For the second consecutive year, the University of North Alabama has been named among the top producers of Fulbright U.S. Students. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces annually the top-producing institutions for the Fulbright program, which is the U.S. government's flagship international exchange program. The list is published each year by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

"This commendable distinction for the second year in a row exemplifies UNA's commitment to creating transformational experiences for its students," said Dr. Ross Alexander, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. "Our students consistently outperform those from much larger research institutions, demonstrating the quality of a UNA education and experience."

Eight UNA students have been selected for participation in the Fulbright Program in the last two years.

"Last year's group was selected in the midst of the pandemic; they've had to delay their departures and work through a lot of uncertainty. But through it all they have demonstrated why they were selected," said Dr. Matthew Price, director of the Premier National and International Awards program. "UNA attracts a diverse student body that engages the world in interesting ways. Our Fulbright recipients demonstrate how unique of an institution we really are."

The Fulbright Program was created to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the ECA. More than 2,200 U.S. students and more than 900 college and university faculty and administrators are awarded Fulbright grants annually. Additionally, some 4,000 Fulbright Foreign Students and Visiting Scholars come to the U.S. each year to study, lecture, conduct research, or teach their native language.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 390,000 passionate students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to findingsolutions to important international problems. The global network of Fulbrighters fosters mutual understanding between the U.S. and partner nations, advances knowledge across communities, and improves lives around the globe. For more, visit https://eca.state.gov/fulbright.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/