e of the earth since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. (Coffin, 1966, p. 87)V. Impact on Higher EducationIt is a hard task to try to assess the impact of the Fulbright Act of 1946, and the Fulbright Program that was created through the Act on Higher Education. Since its inception more than 50 years ago, the number of Fulbrighters," has reached a quarter of a million, 94,000 from the United States and over 155,000 from other countries. Today the Fulbright Program awards approximately 4,500 new grants annually. In a report that was published in the late 90s it is argued that no other program, with such modest expenditures (about $1.9 billion over 50 years), has brought so much worldwide credit and goodwill to the United States. (Fulbright at Fifty, p.1) It is also believed that the Fulbright Program has helped the American colleges and universities to serve as models for advancing learning elsewhere around the world. Although some researchers argue the effects of successive generations of foreign students on United States institutions of higher learning appear to be diffuse, diverse but generally rather modest. (Flack, 1976, p. 113), others credit the Fulbright Program for making the U.S. colleges and universities the educator of choice for Third World academic personnel. (Ilchman & Ilchman, 1987, p. 48). Fulbright grantees that come to the United States for higher education may comprise only a small portion of all international students on U.S. campuses. Still, it is reasonable to assume that the Fulbright program has helped U.S. colleges and universities to become the most sought after by international students. Foreign students on American campuses continue to contribute a significant amount of funding in tuition. According to a study reported by Flack (1976), the financial exports of foreign students were identified as the 16th and 18th largest industries with ramifications for employment for the states of Indiana and New York, r...
