Rhodes Scholarships
Rhodes Scholarships, a fund established in 1902 under the will of Cecil John Rhodes to maintain scholarships at Oxford University, England. It was Rhodes's hope that a Rhodes scholar would come “to esteem the performance of public duties as his highest aim.” Rhodes set down four qualities for a candidate—intellectual ability and attainments, personality and character, leadership, and physical vitality. Each year about 70 scholars are chosen, primarily from the British Commonwealth and the United States.
The grant consists of a direct payment of fees to the college in which the student enrolls and an allowance paid to the scholar. A scholarship is for two years, but may be extended for a third year.
Usually 32 candidates are selected from the United States. An applicant must be a citizen at least 18 and not more than 24 by October 1 of the year of application, be unmarried (marriage is permitted after the first year), and have “achieved an academic standing sufficient to insure the receipt of a bachelor's degree before matriculating at Oxford.” The student is admitted with advanced standing and, as a result, can usually obtain an Oxford degree in two years.
For selection of candidates, the 50 states of the United States are grouped into eight districts. In each state a committee of selection may name two candidates to appear before the district committee. Each district selects four scholars-elect. Students may apply in either their home states or the states in which they are attending school.
The first American Rhodes scholars went to Oxford in 1904. The scholarships were available only to males until 1976, when the program was opened to female applicants. Notable Rhodes scholars have included President Clinton, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, the poet Robert Penn Warren, and Justice Byron R. White.