U.S. Scholars | core Fulbright Scholar Program

Who's Eligible

• Regulations for all Fulbright Programs are created and revised by the Presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (JWFFSB).
• The full text of the current JWFFSB’s Policies For Fulbright U.S. Scholars are found in Chapter 600: U.S. Lecturers and Research Scholars.
• All eligibility requirements apply at time of application.
• Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin and/or physical impairment.

• U.S. citizenship – permanent residence is not sufficient.
• A Ph.D. or equivalent professional/terminal degree (including the master’s degree, depending on the field) as appropriate. Candidates outside academe (e.g., professionals, artists) need recognized professional standing and substantial professional accomplishments.
• College or university teaching awards require experience at the level and in the field specified by the award description.
• Foreign language proficiency as specified by the award description or required for the successful completion of the proposed project. (In many areas, lecturing is in English.)
• Sound physical and mental health. Grantees are required to submit a Medical History and Examination Report before their grants can be finalized.
• The lifetime maximum number of Fulbright Scholar grants is two.  That may be calculated either as two Core grants or one Core grant and two short-term (two months or less) grants.
• Grants shall not authorize activity for which a license to practice medicine or nursing is required.

• Candidates who have resided abroad for five or more consecutive years in a six-year period preceding the date of application are ineligible. In this case, a period of nine months or more during a calendar year is considered to constitute a full year abroad.
• Candidates should be aware of the Review Criteria regarding Previous Experiences Abroad and Previous Fulbright Grants.
• Applicants are required to disclose any prior convictions of a felony or a misdemeanor (excluding minor traffic violations). The complete JWFFSB regulations can be found under Ineligibility Factors.