Elementary through high school teachers are eligible to apply. Current full-time guidance counselors, curriculum specialists, curriculum heads, T&G/TAG coordinators, and media specialist/librarians are also eligible to apply. However, not all applicants are eligible for all countries, please see the Participating Countries listing for country specific eligibility requirements.

To meet the basic eligibility requirements of the program, an applicant must meet all of the following seven requirements. Failure to meet any one of the requirements makes a candidate ineligible. At the time of application, a candidate must:

• Be a U.S. citizen;
• Be employed full-time at an accredited school in the U.S. or its territories. For the purpose of determining eligibility, "full-time" refers to applicants who are currently employed full-time by a school or school district. Teachers who hold a combination of part-time jobs which may add up to a full-time equivalent are not eligible;
• Hold a Master’s degree (or be enrolled in a Master’s program at the time the grant begins);
• Be in at least the fifth year of full-time teaching;
• Demonstrate experience conducting and leading professional development activities;
• Have received teaching award(s) or exemplary evaluation(s) by a school administrator;
• Meet current FSB eligibility requirements regarding previous grants. Previous Fulbright recipients who completed a grant of longer than eight weeks in 2006 or earlier are eligible to apply. Previous Fulbright recipients who completed a grant of eight weeks or less in 2009 or earlier are eligible to apply. Applicants must also not have received more than the lifetime limit of two Fulbright grants (eight weeks or more = 1 grant; eight weeks or less = ½ grant).
  

In addition, nominating schools must:

• Provide a nomination form completed by the school administrator demonstrating interest in having the nominee utilize their Distinguished Awards program research to conduct post-program professional development activities in the school, district, or region;
• Provide a statement of assurance on behalf of the local superintendent's office that the nominee may take a semester "sabbatical leave" to participate in the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching program. Although release of candidates with salary is strongly encouraged, teachers are eligible to participate in the program with paid or unpaid leave.
  

The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, or national origin and encourages the applications of members of minority communities. In keeping with the Federal government's ongoing efforts to ensure that its programs reflect the ethnic diversity of the United States, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs welcomes the opportunity to promote the appreciation and understanding of a multicultural America just as the Fulbright Program promotes the appreciation and understanding of a multicultural world.

Repeat applicants:

Previous applicants are eligible to apply for the program.  All repeat applicants must submit a current application form in order to be considered. However, repeat applicants need not submit the two additional references, provided those on file were submitted within the past year.  Repeat applicants will be advised if additional information or interviews are necessary.

Note for Previous Fulbright Grantees:

Preference will be given to candidates who have not had previous Fulbright grants. However, recipients of a semester or year-long Fulbright grant are eligible to receive another Fulbright grant five years after the date of completion of the previous grant. The five-year requirement between two grants does not apply to short-term grants, which are defined as grants of under two months duration. Waiting periods with regard to short-term, which are defined as grants of under two months duration. Waiting periods with regard to short term grants are as follows: 

• Recipients of a short-term grant are eligible to receive a semester or year-long grant two years after the date of completion of the preceding short-term grant.  
• Recipients of a semester or year-long grant are eligible to receive a short-term grant two years after the date of completion of the preceding basic grant. 
• Recipients of a short-term grant are eligible to receive another short-term grant two years after the completion of the preceding short-term grant.   

Number of Awards: The maximum number of any combination of basic Fulbright grants for Scholars and Teachers is limited to two with the following conditions and exceptions: 

• A student grant does not count toward this lifetime limit;
• A short-term grant (two months or less) shall count as ½ of a basic Fulbright grant for purposes of counting in a lifetime limit and shall not exceed two in a lifetime.