Skip to main content

Next Step Forward is an independent education publication and is not affiliated with the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Standards

Opportunity-selection methodology

How an opportunity earns a place in our directory, and how we keep listings current.

Selection criteria

  1. Official source required. Every listing links to the organization's own page.
  2. Verified and dated. Each entry records the date it was last checked. Deadlines appear only if the official source states them.
  3. Clear eligibility. We state citizenship, residency, level of study and location requirements. International opportunities are labeled as such.
  4. No fees for placement. Organizations cannot pay to be listed or ranked.
  5. Re-checked periodically. Entries we cannot re-verify are removed or marked unconfirmed.

Where it takes place, and who may apply

We record a program's host location separately from its eligibility rules. A program based in the United States may be limited to US citizens, while a program abroad may accept students based on where they are enrolled. Read both.

What the status labels mean

  • Open, Opening soon and Rolling applications are shown only when we verified the listing against the official source within the last 120 days.
  • Deadline passed appears automatically once the published deadline for the listed cycle has passed, in the provider's stated time zone. If no time zone is published, we wait until the deadline has passed everywhere.
  • Closed means the provider wasn't accepting applications for the cycle we checked. We keep these pages so you can find the official program for future cycles.
  • Status unconfirmed means we couldn't confirm the current status, or our last check is too old to rely on.

Unknown details, such as funding or dates, are shown as "not published" rather than guessed, and a previous year's details are never presented as current.

We don't take applications

Next Step Forward never accepts applications and never asks for passwords, passports or academic records. Apply only on the provider's own website.

Always confirm details on the official program page before applying.