Mexico
16 Binational Business Program
Accepted Degree Levels
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Grant PeriodFall StartGrant Length10 Months |
Award Type
Discipline-Specific Awards
Award Profile
With the goal of creating mutual understanding between the private sectors of Mexico and the United States, the U.S.-Mexico Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (COMEXUS), which is the Fulbright Commission in Mexico, supports internships in Mexican and multinational companies through the Binational Business Internship Program for U.S. Students.
Grantees will be placed in participating businesses and organizations, and will also take courses related to international business at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). The most significant component of the program is the internship; on which grantees will spend about 80% of their time.
In recent years, COMEXUS has placed grantees in a variety of organizations, including traditional and multinational companies, financial institutions, start-ups, and NGOs. In Mexico City, these workplaces have included Angel Ventures, Grupo Coppel, Casa Dragones, ITAM Epic Lab, Endeavor, FTI Consulting, and Educación a Compartir, among others.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- COMEXUS is unable to guarantee placements in specific companies, sectors, industries, and/or regions.
- Grantees are not required to submit a research/study project in order to apply for this grant. If included, this should be considered an additional activity and must not interfere with the internship.
- Fulbright grants in Mexico are known as "Fulbright-García Robles" grants.
Grant Length
Grant Period
Grant Length: 10 months
Grant Dates: September - June
Orientation
All grantees will be required to attend a mandatory Welcome Orientation in Mexico City during the last week of August 2027, organized and sponsored by COMEXUS.
COMEXUS will arrange international transportation for grantees except in very specific cases in which grantees travel with family. Grantees should not purchase airfare without first consulting their COMEXUS Program Officer.
Candidate Profile
Preferred candidates will have less than three years of work experience after graduation and hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, International Relations, Law or International Law, Accounting, or another business-related field.
Candidates with a bachelor’s degree in another field may be considered if they have demonstrated experience and interest in international business.
Candidates must be adaptable, proactive, and able to take initiative in both professional and educational situations in order to thrive in this highly-independent program. The Binational Business Program is not a traditional study abroad program and it is designed for flexible, self-sufficient grantees able to seize the moment, establish and manage expectations, and forge valuable experiences.
What is life like for Fulbrighters in the host country?
Applicants are expected to research their host country. Application materials should indicate a clear commitment to the host country community and a description of how you will engage with it.
The close and dynamic relationship between the United States and Mexico creates abundant opportunities for students interested in university-level research on topics relevant to both countries. Mexico is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and long-standing tradition of academic excellence, offering U.S. citizens endless possibilities for exploration and discovery.
Mexico is the birthplace of major Amerindian civilizations, including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec, among others. It is also one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. Mexico boasts the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Americas, with 35 cultural and natural sites, as well as numerous intangible cultural heritages. Additionally, the country has designated 177 Pueblos Mágicos (“Magical Towns”)—communities that have preserved their original architecture, traditions, history, and culture—further enriching travel experiences.
Colonized by Spain in the early 16th century, Mexico gained independence three centuries later. In 2000, Mexico held historic elections in which Vicente Fox of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) became the first opposition candidate to win the presidency since the 1910 Mexican Revolution, ending decades of rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). Fox was succeeded by another PAN candidate, Felipe Calderón, in 2006. In 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto returned the presidency to the PRI. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a left-leaning politician from the Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (MORENA), became president in 2018. In 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, also from MORENA, was elected as Mexico’s first female president. Mexican presidents serve a single six-year term and cannot be re-elected.
Education in Mexico has deep roots. The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), originally founded as the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico in 1551, is the second oldest higher education institution in the Americas. UNAM is recognized as one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Latin America, with a strong commitment to social responsibility and research that benefits society. All three of Mexico’s Nobel Prize winners—Octavio Paz, Mario J. Molina, and Alfonso García Robles—are UNAM alumni.
Mexico’s higher education system includes six subsystems: public universities, technological institutes, technological universities, teacher training colleges, and other public and private institutions. In total, there are 8,966 higher education institutions across the country, including 45 public universities that produce half of all academic research and nearly half of all undergraduate and graduate students. There are also 4,038 private institutions nationwide.
Mexico is home to several unique and innovative public higher education institutions that have inspired similar models abroad. For example, the Universidades Interculturales are designed for bilingual and bicultural environments in regions with significant indigenous populations. The prestigious Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo specializes in agricultural studies and attracts students from across the country. The Escuelas Normales Rurales provide exemplary teacher training in rural areas.
While Mexico City is the primary center for higher education, other important academic hubs include Puebla, Xalapa, León, Guadalajara, and Mérida in the Yucatán Peninsula, each attracting students from across Mexico and beyond.
As neighbors, Mexico and the United States naturally have a long history of binational business and commercial relationships. The two countries emphasized the importance of their trade relationship through the establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, which was later adapted into the updated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020. In the last few years, Mexico and the United States have solidified their business ties as top trading partners, with important goods including cereals, fuel, cars and machinery, electronics, and produce. Mexico has become a global innovation and technology hub and is currently experiencing growth in sectors such as: advanced manufacturing, transport and logistics, biotechnology, energy, fintech, and cybersecurity.
Eligibility
7 Months
• Must not be living or working in Mexico during the application process
• Dual citizens are welcome to apply
Degree Level of Applicant
- Bachelor's
- Master's
Special Application Instructions
Refer to this program in your Statement of Grant Purpose and select “Binational Business Program” under Award Name on the Fulbright application.
In the Statement of Grant Purpose, the following three points should be addressed:
- Areas where the applicant could benefit from and make the best contribution to a Mexico-based company conducting international business;
- Aspects of the applicant’s academic background (coursework, workshops, special courses, particular interests, etc.) and professional experience (specific jobs and internships) that would allow the applicant to benefit from the experience and contribute during the internship and in the classroom; and
- Expected benefits from the internship and courses, and their relationship to the applicant’s future career plans.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Grantees are not required to submit a research or study project in order to apply for this grant. If included, this should be considered an additional activity and must not interfere with the internship.
This award is not considered a graduate degree award, and applicants must therefore select ‘No’ when asked whether their grant proposal includes graduate degree enrollment.
Foreign Language Evaluation (FLE) Form
If required, submission of the Foreign Language Evaluation (FLE) form is mandatory, even if you have advanced skills or are a native speaker of the language. Failure to submit the required FLE form may impact your eligibility.
Additional Information: Applicants should include in the Language Self-Evaluation plans for language study between the time of application and the commencement of the grant. A Foreign Language Evaluation by a college-level Spanish language instructor is also required.
Foreign Language Proficiency Level by Grant Start
If a Foreign Language Evaluation (FLE) form is Required, applicants must have the following proficiency level by the start of the grant period. If a Foreign Language Evaluation (FLE) form is Recommended, applicants are encouraged but not required to have the following level by the start of the grant period.
Additional Information: Spanish language proficiency is necessary, not only for the internship but also in order to communicate at a university level.
Fulbright Proposal Types
Yes
No
Affiliation
Applicants should not include a letter of affiliation from any Mexican institution in their application, as COMEXUS will place all grantees with their host company or organization. Following the final grantee selection, COMEXUS will arrange the internship placement of grantees through a matching process involving participating companies, grantees, and the Commission.
In this process:
- All grantees are invited to be interviewed by all companies;
- Both the companies and grantees then rank their preferences; and
- The Commission assigns the grantee to an institution, taking into account the preferences of both the applicant and the company as well as the well-being of the complete cohort.
- COMEXUS is unable to guarantee placements in specific companies and/or industries.
- Grantees will enroll in courses at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).
Affiliation Fees/Tuition
All grantees must enroll in at least one course and up to two courses per trimester at ITAM for a total of up to six classes. University fees are waived as part of the grant. Please note that grantees will be required to pass each of their classes with a final grade of 8/10 to fully comply with grant responsibilities.
Award Benefits
- A stipend broadly based on the cost of living in the host country. These funds may be used by the grantee to support housing, meals, and incidental costs during the grant period.
- International travel benefits
- Accident & sickness health benefits
- 24/7 mental health support line for urgent and non-urgent situations
- 12 months of non-competitive eligibility (NCE) hiring status within the federal government
Stipend Amount
This is an estimated amount and is subject to change. The financial terms of the grant will be confirmed in the grant document issued after selection.
Please take note that the grant will be paid in Mexican pesos (MXN) after grantees open their Mexican bank accounts. For the last cohort, the amount was $300,000 in MXN (around $30,000 MXN per month). Each year, COMEXUS establishes the exchange rate to determine the grant amount in MXN.
One-Time Allowances
This is an estimated amount and is subject to change. The financial terms of the grant will be confirmed in the grant document issued after selection.
- Settling in allowance
- One roundtrip airfare between US-Mexico provided to the grantee only, not to exceed $1,000 USD
- Settling-in Allowance (one-time $200 rellocation allowance and $100 book allowance)
Additional Grant Benefits
- Mid-year seminar
There is a mandatory midterm seminar in early January. COMEXUS covers round-trip travel expenses from the grantee’s placement to the seminar.
Estimated Cost of Living
Consider using cost of living comparison websites to gain a better understanding of the potential costs in your host country.
- You may wish to visit this website to help estimate the cost of living, meals, and incidentals in different cities in Mexico.
- To give some perspective to interested candidates, please note that an average Mexican citizen with a bachelor's degree earns from $10,000 to $20,000 MXN per month, and the monthly grant amount is higher than that.
- While it is possible to live comfortably in Mexico City on the monthly grant amount, if you wish to travel throughout the country, to live by yourself, and/or to be able to dine out frequently, it is recommended to arrive in Mexico with some additional savings.
Dependents
Housing Arrangements
Neither COMEXUS nor the U.S. Embassy/consulate will assist in locating or helping secure housing for U.S. Fulbright grantees.
COMEXUS may make suggestions and offer contacts and references from former grantees, but it is the grantee’s responsibility to find housing. Although some grants come with a modest relocation award, COMEXUS recommends having sufficient funds to cover move-in expenses. It is not advised to secure long-term housing before arrival, so COMEXUS recommends having a few short-term options in mind for the time immediately following the Welcome Orientation. After several days or weeks, you will have a better idea of what you are looking for in your living situation and more importantly, the length of commute between your home and internship site.