[5] The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship is a grant that enables graduating seniors to pursue a year of independent study outside the United States.

Qualities sought in fellows include: Leadership, Imagination, Independence, Emotional Maturity, Courage, Integrity, Resourcefulness, and Responsibility.

[14] Institutions eligible to nominate Watson Fellows are 41 select small liberal arts colleges with an undergraduate population of fewer than 3,000 students.

[15] In 1999, the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship was created to expose undergraduate students to work through three successive summer internships and mentorship.

[36] Fellows have gone on to win prestigious awards like the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, the Fulbright Program, and The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

Qualities sought include high standards, ambition, openness, desire to explore diverse cultures and new professional fields, willingness to act on feedback, leadership, ability to work in groups, integrity and accountability, and a strong academic record.

[39] Dean Emeritus of the School of Continuing Education at Columbia University, Wolf extended participation to four additional New York City colleges and expanded substantially the Fellowship's internships in the for-profit sector.