Deadline:
September 16, 2025
Location(s)
United Kingdom
Various universities
Overview
Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. Up to forty Scholars are selected each year to study at graduate level at an UK institution in any field of study.
Details
WHO WE ARE
Founded by a 1953 Act of Parliament, and named in honour of US Secretary of State George C Marshall, the Scholarships commemorate the humane ideals of the Marshall Plan and they express the continuing gratitude of the British people to their American counterparts.
Marshall Scholarships are mainly funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and are overseen by the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission. The Secretariat is provided by the Association of Commonwealth Universities. In the US the selection process is managed by the regional Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and in Washington DC by the British Embassy.
GENERAL INFORMATION
As future leaders, with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions. Marshall Scholars are talented, independent and wide-ranging, and their time as Scholars enhances their intellectual and personal growth. Their direct engagement with Britain through its best academic programmes contributes to their ultimate personal success.
The objectives of the programme are as follows:
- To enable intellectually distinguished young Americans, their country's future leaders, to study in the UK.
- To help Scholars gain an understanding and appreciation of contemporary Britain.
- To contribute to the advancement of knowledge in science, technology, the humanities and social sciences and the creative arts at Britain's centres of academic excellence.
- To motivate Scholars to act as ambassadors from the USA to the UK and vice versa throughout their lives thus strengthening British American understanding.
- To promote the personal and academic fulfilment of each Scholar.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
WHO IS ELIGIBLE
To be eligible for a 2026 Marshall Scholarship, candidates must:
- Be citizens of the United States of America (at the time they apply for a scholarship);
- (By the time they take up their scholarship i.e. September 2026) hold their first undergraduate degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States;
- Have obtained a grade point average of not less than 3.7 on their undergraduate degree at the time of application. We do not accept rounded GPA’s.
- Have graduated from their first undergraduate college or university after April 2023.
- Not have studied for, or hold a degree or degree-equivalent qualification from a British University or GCSE or A Levels taken at school in the UK.
Marshall Scholarship Pathways
A Marshall Scholarship provides funding for one or two years for master’s degree programmes, or up to three years for doctoral study, at any UK university. There are five possible pathways of study:
One-year pathway
- (1) 1 x one-year master’s degree (minimum 10-month programme).
Two-year pathways (including Master’s and Doctoral)
- (2) 2 x one-year master’s degree (at the same or different universities, pursued consecutively)
- (3) 1 x two-year master’s degree (at one university)
- (4) PhD/DPhil degree (at one university, typically 3 years in the UK)
- For Marshall Scholars who enter as PhD/DPhil candidates, the Commission provides three years of guaranteed funding subject to academic progress.
- (5) 1 x one-year master’s degree + start PhD/DPhil in Year 2 (at the same or different universities).
- In this scenario, the Commission will guarantee two years of funding, and may provide a third year of funding on a discretionary basis. To complete their PhD/DPhil, Marshall, Scholars may need to secure external funding thereafter.
Dates
Deadline: September 16, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
Value: University fees, cost of living expenses, annual book grant, thesis grant, research and daily travel grants, fares to and from the United States and, where applicable, a contribution towards the support of a dependent spouse.
Number of Awards: Up to 50 Scholarships awarded annually.
Tenure: The Two Year Marshall Scholarship is tenable for two academic years (ie 22 months), but may be extended by the Commission, though not beyond the end of a third academic year. Third-year extensions are granted by the Commission on a limited basis, for strong academic reasons, subject to the availability of funds. In addition, thanks to the generous support of the following Universities:
- Up to three third-year extensions may be granted by the University of Oxford to those pursuing a doctorate at Oxford.
The One Year Marshall Scholarship is tenable for one academic year (ie 12 months) and cannot be extended.
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
