Half of Bowdoin students who applied for Fulbright awards for the 2017-2018 academic received them, the best ratio among any of the nation’s top undergraduate Fulbright Student producers, according to the Fulbright Program. Forty Bowdoin students applied for Fulbrights last year, and 20 received them, the most from Bowdoin since data became available a decade ago.

In terms of the raw number of awards, the College was ranked second among liberal arts colleges, falling behind Bates College. Twenty-three out of 63 Bates applicants received a Fulbright, a 37 percent success rate.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides award recipients with grants to pursue a year of academic enrichment outside of the U.S., either by teaching English or conducting research. Awards were announced last spring, and Bowdoin recipients are currently working in Brazil, China, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and South Africa.

Among all colleges and universities, Brown University led with 39 Fulbright recipients. Brown student applicants had a success rate of 33 percent.