Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarships, the oldest international educational fellowships, were initiated after the death of Cecil Rhodes in 1902, and bring outstanding students from many countries around the world to the University of Oxford. American Rhodes Scholars are selected through a decentralized process by which regional selection committees choose 32 Scholars each year representing the fifty states.
Applicants from more than 300 American colleges and universities have been selected as Rhodes Scholars.
Extraordinary intellectual distinction is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for election to a Rhodes Scholarship. Selection committees are charged to seek excellence in qualities of mind and in qualities of person which, in combination, offer the promise of effective service to the world in the decades ahead.
The Rhodes Scholarships, in short, are investments in individuals rather than in project proposals. Accordingly, applications are sought from talented students without restriction as to their field of academic specialization or career plans although the proposed course of study must be available at Oxford, and the applicant’s undergraduate program must provide a sufficient basis for study in the proposed field.
Express Interest in Applying:
March - April 2026
8/20/2025 at noon
Campus Interview: 8/26-8/27/2025
Official Rhodes Deadline:
10/2/2025 at 11:59 p.m. EST
Campus Contact: Cindy Stocks
*Information derived from
Please be reminded that Bowdoin’s Honor Code applies to the fellowship application process.
