The numbers behind Penn’s postgraduate fellowship scene

Penn has the second-lowest rate of students earning prestigious graduate fellowships among Ivy League schools.

After consultation from Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, the Daily Pennsylvanian’s analysis accounted for nine programs: the Rhodes Scholarship, the Marshall Scholarship, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Schwarzman Scholars, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, the Churchill Scholarship, the United States Fulbright Student Program, Knight-Hennessy Scholars, and the Luce Scholars Program.

According to previous fellowship data analyzed by the DP, Penn ranks second only to Harvard in the total number of student recipients of these awards. However, when adjusted for the school’s undergraduate student population, Penn falls toward the bottom of the list.

In 2025, 27 Penn undergraduates received fellowships from the selected programs, with Harvard at 31. For awards received per capita, Penn places second-to-last in the Ivy League — ahead of only Cornell.

The DP analyzed data from 2011 to 2025, representing 15 years of scholarship cycles. Not all scholarships were offered every year. The Schwarzman Scholarship, which sends students to Tsinghua University in Beijing, was first awarded in 2016 and the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship to Stanford University was first awarded in 2018. Selection for the Mitchell Scholarship for graduate study in Ireland was placed on pause in 2024.

Penn demonstrated a trend of slight growth over the 15-year period, with slight fluctuation between years.

Fulbright makes up the largest proportion of scholarships awarded to Penn students each year. On average, the program accounts for roughly half of the total fellowships awarded at Penn. Fulbright alone awarded 146 scholarships across the Ive League in 2025, which is more than the other eight major scholarships combined. 

Fulbright is a worldwide program with support for both graduate study and teaching positions in over 160 countries. Some programs fund graduate study at a specific institution, while others support study within a particular country or region, including the Marshall Scholarship in the United Kingdom and the Luce Scholars Program in Asia.

CURF is responsible for advising Penn students interested in applying to these fellowships. In many cases, applicants must meet with a CURF advisor and undergo an internal nomination process before they can be selected as program finalists.

“CURF serves as the University of Pennsylvania’s information hub and primary support office for Penn students and alumni considering applying for major grants and fellowships,” a CURF spokesperson wrote to the DP. 

The spokesperson added that “CURF aims to demystify these opportunities, providing resources available to all undergraduate and graduate students and alumni.”

Senior reporter Jack Guerin contributed reporting.

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