The
Rhodes Scholarship, named for the British colonialist, mining magnate and South African politician
Cecil John Rhodes, is an international
postgraduate award for non-British students to study at the
University of Oxford. Describing itself as "perhaps the most prestigious scholarship" in the world, the award is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious scholarships by public sources such as
Time,
The McGill Reporter, and the
Associated Press. Established in 1902, it was the first large-scale programme of international
scholarships, inspiring creation of other awards like the
Kennedy Scholarship for British nationals, the
Fulbright Program for citizens of over 150 countries, the
Marshall Scholarship for Americans, and more recently the international
Gates Scholarship at
Cambridge University and two programs in China (namely, the
Yenching Scholarship and
Schwarzman Scholarship).