The Ford IFP Legacy
Between 2001 and 2013, the International Fellowships Program supported graduate-level education for more than 4,300 individuals from 22 countries in the developing world. Geared toward emerging leaders and social innovators, IFP was based on an inclusive higher education model that prioritized social commitment over traditional selection criteria.
Although the program has ended, IIE is conducting a 10-year longitudinal research study to assess the potential impacts of the IFP fellowship with generous support from the Ford Foundation. The study is being carried out by IIE’s Center for Academic Mobility Research and Impact, which is a unit independent of other IIE program areas that carries out evidence-based and unbiased evaluation and research studies of international scholarship and fellowship programs. The project offers a rare opportunity to explore over the long-term how the IFP impacted the lives of its Fellows as well as the communities in which they live and work.