USA Scholarships
Human Rights Advocates Program 2027 - HRAP at Columbia
The Human Rights Advocates Program 2027, known everywhere as HRAP, is a six-month capacity-building programme run by the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University for grassroots advocates from around the world. Applications are open for the Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 programmes and close on 15 October 2026. What you get is an online component followed by a semester in residence in New York, combining academic coursework at Columbia with practical skills workshops, tailored mentoring, deliberate networking across the city's NGOs and international organisations, and an advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. to lobby policymakers directly. One point deserves more attention than it usually gets. HRAP is widely listed on opportunity sites as fully funded, and ISHR's own words are more careful: only a very limited number of full scholarships will be awarded, and other admitted applicants will be asked to cover expenses such as living expenses and stipend. ISHR does make every effort to secure funding for shortlisted Advocates after its selection process, and the funding questions sit inside the application itself rather than on a separate form. Who this is for is equally specific. Advocates must work at the grassroots level, full-time students, academics and government officials are not considered, applicants from high-income countries are excluded unless they represent marginalized communities, English fluency is required, and your organisation must endorse you and expect you back afterwards.
What is the Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP)?
The Human Rights Advocates Program brings grassroots human rights advocates to Columbia University for six months of training, coursework and access they would struggle to buy anywhere. HRAP is run by the Institute for the Study of Human Rights and has been going for over three decades. The shape of it is an online component followed by a semester in residence in New York, with academic classes at Columbia, practical skills workshops, mentoring matched to your own work, sustained networking across the NGOs and international organisations packed into the city, and an advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. where Advocates sit down with policymakers, agencies and foundations. Applications for the Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 programmes close on 15 October 2026.
Start with the money, because most of the pages ranking for this keyword get it wrong. HRAP is routinely listed as a fully funded opportunity. What ISHR actually says is that only a very limited number of full scholarships will be awarded, and that other admitted applicants will be asked to cover expenses such as living expenses and stipend. ISHR also says it makes every effort to secure funding for shortlisted Advocates once selection is done, and that all funding questions sit inside the main application rather than on a separate form. None of that makes HRAP a bad deal. It does mean you should apply with a clear idea of what your organisation, a partner funder or a national body could put in, and answer the funding section frankly rather than optimistically.
Who HRAP wants is unusually well defined, and the definition rules people out on purpose. Advocates must work at the grassroots level. Full-time students, academics and government officials are not considered, and ISHR says it prefers applicants holding full-time jobs pursuing their advocacy efforts, which is a polite way of saying it wants people currently doing the work rather than people writing about it. Applicants from high-income countries are excluded unless they represent marginalized communities. English fluency is required and so is English on every attachment. Preference goes to advocates who have not previously had the chance to travel and study internationally, so a CV full of overseas fellowships is a disadvantage here rather than an asset. A bachelor's degree is preferred but not required, though you do need to show you can handle graduate-level study, since Columbia coursework is part of the deal.
The paperwork has one trap in it that is worth naming twice. You need two signed letters of recommendation from people who can attest to your work as an advocate, and separately a letter of institutional endorsement from your supervisor confirming your organisation supports your participation and expects you back. The endorsement cannot double as a reference, so that is three documents from three different angles. Unsigned recommendation letters are not accepted, and ISHR is blunt that an unsigned letter gets your entire application removed from consideration. Electronic signatures are fine. Ask in August, chase in September, and check the signatures yourself before you submit. If you are weighing up other routes for advocates and organisers, the Yale Peace Fellowship guide covers a shorter peacebuilding programme and the Yale World Fellows Program guide covers a four-month residency for mid-career leaders. The full admissions rules sit on the ISHR admissions page.
Eligibility
-
✓Working at the grassroots levelISHR is explicit that advocates must work at the grassroots level. HRAP exists to strengthen people organising in and with their own communities, so a policy role at a large international body is a weaker fit than frontline work with a small organisation.
-
✓Not a full-time student, academic or government officialFull-time students, academics and government officials will not be considered. Applicants holding full-time jobs pursuing their advocacy efforts are preferred, which tells you the programme is aimed at practitioners rather than at people studying the field.
-
✓Not from a high-income country, with one exceptionApplicants from high-income countries will not be considered, except for those representing marginalized communities. If you are based in a high-income country and applying on that basis, make the community you represent explicit rather than leaving a reviewer to infer it.
-
✓Fluent in EnglishEnglish fluency is required, and the requirement extends to your paperwork: the entire application including every attachment must be in English. Coursework at Columbia and the Washington advocacy meetings both run in English.
-
✓Institutional endorsement and a commitment to returnAdvocates must provide proof of institutional endorsement in English from their organisation and must commit to returning to that organisation once the programme ends. HRAP is designed to send strengthened advocates back to the work, not to move them somewhere else.
-
✓Able to handle graduate-level studySelection weighs work experience in human rights, commitment to the field, and demonstrated ability to pursue graduate-level studies. You will take academic coursework at Columbia alongside the practical elements, so the reading load is real.
-
✓A degree helps but is not requiredA bachelor's degree is preferred but not required, and preference goes to advocates who have not previously had opportunities to travel and study internationally. Missing a degree is not a bar. Having already done several overseas fellowships works against you here.
Benefits
- Academic coursework at Columbia Part of the residency
- Skills-building workshops Practical training through the programme
- Tailored mentoring Matched to your work and goals
- Networking in New York NGOs, international organisations and funders
- Advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. To lobby policymakers directly
- Arrival logistics ISHR prepares visas, flights and accommodation
- A Columbia degree or academic credit Not granted, HRAP is capacity-building
- A job or placement afterwards Not offered, you return to your organisation
- Full scholarships A very limited number are awarded
- Funding effort by ISHR Every effort made for shortlisted Advocates
- Funding application Included in the main form, no separate one
- Living expenses if not fully funded Admitted applicants may be asked to cover them
- Stipend if not fully funded May fall to the applicant to cover
- A guarantee of full funding Not offered to every admitted advocate
- Funding for family accompanying you Not part of the programme
Document checklist
-
✓The online HRAP applicationThe single form that carries everything, including every question about funding. There is no separate scholarship form to submit, so answer the funding section inside the application carefully rather than waiting for a later stage that does not exist.
-
✓Curriculum vitaeYour record as an advocate rather than as a scholar. Lead with the organising, campaigning and community work, since that is what the selection is weighing, and keep it in English like everything else.
-
✓Two signed letters of recommendationBoth must be signed, and both must come from people who can speak to your work as a human rights advocate. Unsigned letters are not accepted and the whole application is removed from consideration, which is as harsh as it sounds. Electronic signatures are fine.
-
✓Letter of institutional endorsementFrom your supervisor at your current organisation, in English, confirming they support your participation and expect you back afterwards. It cannot double as one of your two recommendation letters, so that is three separate documents from three separate purposes.
-
✓Everything in EnglishAll supporting documentation must be in English. If your endorsement letter or references write in another language, arrange a translation well before October rather than in the last week.
-
✓Your own funding pictureNot a document as such, but you need an honest answer ready. With only a very limited number of full scholarships available, admitted applicants may be asked to cover living expenses and stipend, so know what your organisation or a partner funder could contribute before you apply.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
Is the Human Rights Advocates Program fully funded?
Not for everyone, despite how it is usually advertised. ISHR states that only a very limited number of full scholarships will be awarded, and that other admitted applicants will be asked to cover expenses such as living expenses and stipend. What ISHR does commit to is making every effort to secure funding for shortlisted Advocates after its selection process. Treat a place as an admission first and a funded place second, and go into the application with a realistic view of what you or your organisation could contribute.
What is the HRAP 2027 application deadline?
Applications for the Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 Human Rights Advocates Programs close on 15 October 2026. One deadline covers both intakes. Every part of the application, including the two signed recommendation letters and the institutional endorsement, needs to be in by that date and in English, so work backwards from October when you ask people for documents.
Who is eligible for the Human Rights Advocates Program?
Grassroots human rights advocates with real work experience in the field, a demonstrated commitment to it, and the ability to handle graduate-level study. Full-time students, academics and government officials are not considered, and applicants from high-income countries are excluded unless they represent marginalized communities. English fluency is required, your organisation must endorse you, and you must commit to returning to it afterwards. A bachelor's degree is preferred but not required.
How long is HRAP and where does it take place?
Six months in total, split between an online component and a semester in residence in New York City at Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights, with an advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. built in. The most recently published cycle ran its online part across November and December and the on-campus residency from mid-January to mid-May. Check the current programme page for the exact Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 dates before planning around them.
What do you actually do on the Human Rights Advocates Program?
Four things run in parallel. You take academic coursework at Columbia, work through practical skills-building workshops, get mentoring matched to your own advocacy, and do a lot of deliberate networking with the NGOs, international organisations and funders concentrated in New York. The Washington trip is where it converges: Advocates meet policymakers, government agencies and foundations to lobby on the concerns of their own communities.
Do you need a degree to apply for HRAP?
No. A bachelor's degree is preferred but not required, which is deliberate given that HRAP is aimed at grassroots organisers rather than at academics. What is required is a demonstrated ability to pursue graduate-level studies, since Columbia coursework is part of the programme. If you have no degree, use the application to show reading, analysis and writing you have already done in your advocacy work.
Can advocates from high-income countries apply to HRAP?
Only in one situation. ISHR says applicants from high-income countries will not be considered except for those representing marginalized communities. So an advocate in a wealthy country organising with an excluded or persecuted community can apply, while a generalist human rights professional in the same country cannot. If you are relying on that exception, name the community and your relationship to it clearly in the application.
What documents does the HRAP application require?
The online application form, a CV, two signed letters of recommendation from people who can attest to your work as a human rights advocate, and a letter of institutional endorsement from your supervisor. The endorsement cannot count as one of the two references. Every document must be in English. One rule is worth repeating because it is unusually strict: unsigned recommendation letters are not accepted and your entire application is removed from consideration.
Does HRAP give you a Columbia degree or certificate?
No degree and no academic credit. HRAP is a capacity-building residency rather than a course of study, so what you take away is the training, the mentoring, the networks and the Washington advocacy experience rather than a Columbia qualification. That is consistent with the design: you are expected to return to the organisation that endorsed you and put the skills back into its work.
Scholarship Union
More in-depth scholarship guides curated by experts.
Related guides
Always verify scholarship details on the official source before applying. Information on this page may change.
Visit official website