History
Known as an old and prestigious international graduate scholarship",
[13] the Rhodes Scholarships are administered and awarded by the
Rhodes Trust, which was established in 1902 under the terms and conditions of the will of
Cecil John Rhodes, and funded by his estate under the administration of
Nathan Rothschild.
[14] Scholarships have been awarded to applicants annually since 1902 on the basis of academic achievement and strength of character. There have been more than 7,000 Rhodes Scholars since the inception of the Trust. More than 4,000 are still living.
[15]
In 1925, the
Commonwealth Fund Fellowships (later renamed the
Harkness Fellowships) were established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships by enabling British graduates to study in the United States.
[16] The
Kennedy Scholarship program, created in 1966 as a living memorial to
John F. Kennedy, adopts a comparable selection process to the Rhodes Scholarships to allow 10 British post-graduate students per year to study at either
Harvard or
MIT.
[17][18]