Fulbright Fellowship

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistantships.  A candidate will submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the U.S.

During their grants, Fulbrighters will meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences.  The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Through engagement in the community, the individual will interact with their hosts on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom, thereby promoting mutual understanding.

Grant lengths and dates vary by country. Please consult the specific country summary for details. 

Specific Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application. Permanent residents are not eligible.

N.B.: In some cases it may not be feasible for a dual national to participate in a Fulbright program in the country of his or her other nationality due to host country law or policy. Therefore, it is incumbent upon candidates to ascertain whether they have, or are eligible to have, their host country’s nationality and to address any potential consequences thereof before they accept an award. In the following countries, dual nationals of the country may NOT apply to that country: Australia, Colombia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Japan*, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Taiwan and Ukraine.

• Applicants must have a conferred bachelor's degree or the equivalent before the start of the grant.
• In the creative and performing arts, four years of professional training and/or experience meets the basic eligibility requirement.
• Applicants must be in good health. Grantees will be required to submit a satisfactory Medical Certificate from a physician.
• Applicants must have sufficient proficiency in the written and spoken language of the host country sufficient to communicate with the people and to carry out the proposed study/research. This is especially important for projects in the social sciences and the humanities.
• Applicants may hold a J.D. at the time of application. 
• Doctors of Medicine may receive grants for advanced academic study, but not for internships or residencies.  Scholars with an M.D. degree who have completed their formal postgraduate training and propose attachment to a hospital or clinic for the purpose of independent or collaborative research should apply to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program through the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, www.cies.org.  Grants shall not authorize activity for which a license to practice medicine or nursing is required.  The Fulbright Program cannot authorize proposals for medical research that involves clinical training, patient care or patient contact.Preferred Qualifications

• Strong preference in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is for those who have not previously held a Fulbright grant. However, those who may have held an English Teaching Assistantship may apply for a study/research grant, provided that at least 2 years have elapsed from the end of their ETA period, and they continue to meet all other eligibility requirements.
• Preference will be given to applicants whose higher education was undertaken primarily at educational institutions in the United States. Foreign study during the junior year or other periods of undergraduate study that are inte­gral parts of the curricula of American institutions will not be considered a disadvantage.
• Candidates who have not resided or studied in the country to which they are applying for more than six months, not counting undergraduate study abroad are preferred. Duty abroad in the Armed Forces of the United States is not considered disqualifying within the meaning of this section.
• For most programs, applicants who have had extensive previous foreign experience in the host country are at a competitive disadvantage, but are still eligible to apply.

Ineligibility

The following are not eligible for consideration:

• Applicants holding a doctoral degree at the time of application.
• Applicants seeking enrollment in a medical degree program abroad.
• Anyone who has resided abroad for five or more consecutive years in the six-year period preceding the date of application.
• Employees of the U.S. Department of State, and their immediate families, for a period ending one year following termination of such employment. This provision does not include part-time or temporary employees, consultants, and contract employees of the Department of State, unless such persons perform services related to the Bureau’s exchange programs.
• Employees of private and public agencies (excluding educational institutions) under contract to the U.S. Department of State to perform administrative or screening services on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s exchange program, for a period ending one year following the termination of their services for the U.S. Department of State provided such employees have been directly engaged in performing services related to the exchange programs.