BEATH High School’s head boy will be furthering his studies abroad later this year.
Sam Fox, 17, from Cowdenbeath, who has completed his Advanced Highers, has won a place and funding to study at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university in New Hampshire, after participating in the Sutton Trust US Programme, run in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission.
Sam is a participant on the most successful cohort of the programme since its creation. The student’s success was announced and celebrated as they met US Ambassador Matthew Barzun at a reception at Winfield House on Wednesday, June 15.
Last summer, Sam was one of 150 students selected for a summer school in the US at either the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or Yale University, visiting several other US universities. He has benefited from an intensive programme of support administered through the US-UK Fulbright Commission. This included help with applications, college choices and admissions tests.
Sam competed with over 1,600 applicants to win one of 150 places on the programme. The aim of the US Programme is to encourage academically talented, low and middle income British students to consider studying at American universities.
Sam said, “I’m so excited for my new adventure to start in the U.S. 
“The opportunities I’ll have at Dartmouth are unparalleled to anything I could get back home. It’s a great chance for me to see the world, and learn so many amazing things along the way – the Sutton Trust US Programme has changed my life.”
J Jeffry Louis, Chairman of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, said: “This remarkable achievement demonstrates that American universities value the diverse talent, ambition and academic potential of the most deserving British state school students. 
“Our special educational relationship crosses the Atlantic in both directions, as the United Kingdom remains the most popular study abroad destination for American students.”
Sam is one of 66 students who have won a place to study in the US through the Sutton Trust US Programme. The successful students have collectively been offered almost $17m of funding over the next four years through university financial support or competitive merit-based scholarships. 
Of the 66 accepted students, the majority are from households that earn less than £25,000 a year. The successful 2015-16 programme cohort comes from across the UK and 83% will be the first in their family to go to university.
In its fifth year, the Sutton Trust US Programme is made possible through support from its founding corporate partner, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.