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UC Berkeley and Federal Express have agreed to fund Fulbright fellowships jointly for graduate students denied funding after a FedEx error caused applications to be picked up past the deadline. 

FedEx will contribute about half of the grant money, with the rest coming from the university’s fellowship endowment, Chancellor Robert Berdahl said in a statement. 

In January the Department of Education, which oversees the Fulbright-Hayes program, denied consideration to the 30 UC students. Upon the request of UC officials, The U.S. Department of State, which also oversees Fulbright programs, agreed to manage a special review of the students’ applications, but held UC responsible for funding the fellowships. 

Last year half of Berkeley’s 30 applicants received grants ranging from $19,593 to $63,947, according to the university. 

“All parties agreed that the students were the focus,” said Sandra Munoz, spokesperson for Federal Express. “This agreement means these students will get a chance to fulfill their dreams.” 

UC officials did not say if devoting campus fellowship money to the Fulbright students might cost other students fellowship opportunities.›