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. In most years, even after a century of competition, a Rhodes Scholar is selected from an institution which has not formerly nominated a successful applicant.

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. Through the years, Rhodes Scholars have pursued studies in all of the varied fields available at the University of Oxford.

Election to the Scholarship is normally for two or three years, but the Scholarship may be held for one year only depending upon the degree program pursued by the Scholar, although the Trust does not encourage this. A Scholarship, including required University and college fees and a stipend for living expenses, may be renewed, at the complete discretion of the Rhodes Trustees, for a third year for those pursuing a doctoral degree. When fourth-year fees are required for completion of a doctorate, and when no other external funding is offered, again at the discretion of the Trustees, those fees will be paid, although not an additional stipend. (College and University jobs are usually available to those remaining in Oxford in such fourth years.) Rhodes Scholars may not apply for the MBA or the Master in Financial Economics (MFE) in their first year, but may pursue either of these one-year degrees in their second year, following the completion of a different one-year master’s degree.

All educational costs, such as matriculation, tuition, laboratory and certain other fees, are paid on the Scholar’s behalf by the Rhodes Trustees. Each Scholar receives in addition a maintenance allowance adequate to meet necessary expenses for term-time and vacations. The Rhodes Trustees cover the necessary costs of travel to and from Oxford.