Fellowships

The Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program for International Teachers (Fulbright DAI) is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. It is part of the overall Fulbright Program, named in honor of Senator J. William Fulbright, which promotes mutual understanding among people of the United States and other countries. The program will bring approximately 40 international teachers to the U.S. for a semester. For international teachers, the program is open to teachers from Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Finland, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Philippines, Senegal, Singapore, Taiwan, Uganda, and United Kingdom. Up to four teachers from India will participate in the program.

Fulbright DAI is a semester-long non-degree, non-credit, professional development program at a U.S. university. Selected international participants will be placed at a U.S. host university School of Education from August 2026 to December 2026. The program will provide with a unique opportunity to develop greater expertise in their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills, increase their knowledge about the United States, and complete an individual or group project. Participants will audit courses in the host university’s school or department of education, and thus will be part of the university community. The program will include opportunities to observe and co-teach with U.S. teachers in a U.S. school near the host university, to actively engage participants in the U.S. classroom environment. Cultural enrichment, mentoring, and support will be provided throughout the program.

After returning home, teachers who successfully complete the program will be eligible to compete for small grants awards for essential teaching materials, to offer follow-on training for other teachers, collaborative projects between participating American schools, and other activities that build on the exchange experience.

Eligibility Requirements
The applicant should:

• be a citizen of India and reside in India at the time of application.
• live and teach in India.
• hold at least a bachelor's degree. A teacher training degree is preferred.
• be a full-time teacher teaching any subject at any level (primary, middle, secondary, or senior secondary).
• primary and secondary level library media specialists, guidance counselors, curriculum specialists, special education coordinators, and administrators who spend at least fifty percent of their time teaching or working directly with students may also apply to the program.
• Teacher trainers working with elementary, or secondary pre-service or in-service teachers are eligible to apply.
• have completed at least five years of full-time teaching experience at the program start.
• demonstrate English language skills adequate to audit university courses and to teach, lead seminars, and give presentations in U.S. schools.
• demonstrate a commitment to continue teaching or working in their field after completion of the program.
• plan to continue working in elementary or secondary education for at least five years after the conclusion of the program.

If you have taken any standard test of English language proficiency such as the iBT TOEFL, please attach a photocopy of the score report to your application. If you have not taken TOEFL and are selected as a nominee, you will be required to take the iBT TOEFL in June 2025. USIEF will provide fee vouchers towards the TOEFL exam. The nominee should possess an internet based TOEFL score of 61.

Fulbright DAI is a program for practicing teachers and other educators working in elementary or secondary schools. Ministry of Education officials, full-time principals or educational administrators, university faculty, private English Language tutors, part time teachers are not eligible. The Fulbright DAI program is not designed for PhD research.

Provisions of the fellowship

• J-1 visa support;
• A pre-departure orientation in India;
• Round-trip airfare to and within the U.S.;
• Academic program fees;
• Housing and meals;
• Accident and sickness medical insurance coverage (does not cover pre-existing conditions);
• Transportation to local school (if necessary);
• A daily allowance for incidentals during the university academic program;
• A professional development allowance;
• A baggage allowance;
• A technology allowance; and
• The opportunity to apply for alumni small grants for alumni in good standing.

Dependents cannot accompany the program participants.

 

Selection Process
Fellows will be selected through a merit-based open competition. After the application deadline, a screening committee will review all eligible applications. Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by a committee which will select nominees whose names will be forwarded to Washington, D.C. for further consideration. All nominations from the participating countries will be reviewed by independent panels of educational experts in Washington, D.C. The panel will then recommend selected applications for further consideration and approval by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB). All candidates will be notified of their status in December 2025.

Selection Criteria (not in order of importance):

• Demonstrated commitment to elementary or secondary education;
• Demonstrated leadership potential;
• Professional and educational experience and achievements;
• Potential for developing long-term linkages between U.S. and Indian educational institutions and schools;
• Preparedness (including maturity, flexibility, and ability to function independently) for an intensive U.S.-based training program with very limited free time for personal travel or sightseeing;
• Willingness and capacity to work and live collaboratively with international peers to foster a positive learning community for professional development;
• Articulated ideas for applying program experience to improving primary or secondary education in home country upon return;
• Ability to express ideas clearly and effectively;
• English language skills adequate to manage coursework, develop lesson plans, and team-teach in U.S. schools.
• Preference will be given to applicants who are members of or who work with students from under-resourced communities or traditionally underrepresented groups including but not limited to women, racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, people with disabilities, the LGBTQIA+ community;
• Preference will also be given to applicants who have had few or no opportunities to travel to the U.S., and who have not previously received a Fulbright grant. Applicants with previous professional experience in the United States should demonstrate in their applications, how they have implemented in their teaching practice what they learned during this experience. A candidate who has resided in the United States for five or more consecutive years in the six-year period preceding the date of application is ineligible for a grant. A candidate who has lived in the United States for nine months or more during a calendar year is deemed to have resided abroad for that year; and
• If a person received an advanced degree from the United States, preference will be given to those who completed their degree at least 8 years ago.

Application Procedure

You must submit an application online. Click https://fulbright.irex.org/ to access the online application.

Click for instructions on completing the online application.

Once you submit your online application print a copy for your record. Please do not send the paper copy of the application form.

Program Timeline

Application deadline:	March 26, 2025
Screening of applications:	Early May 2025
Interviews of short-listed candidates:	End May 2025
Notification of finalists:	December 2025
Pre-departure orientation in India	June 2026
U.S. Program dates	August - December 2026

 

IMPORTANT:

You can apply for either the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (FTEA) Program or Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program for international teachers (FDAI) during this competition cycle.

Candidates who apply for both FTEA and FDAI programs will be considered INELIGIBLE.

Plagiarism in the application will lead to disqualification.

Contact Information

If you have any questions,

Teachers teaching in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and West Bengal should contact Mr. Sumanta Basu, Regional Officer, USIEF Kolkata Regional Office, Kolkata, E: usiefkolkata@usief.org.in; Phone:033-68276310.

Teachers teaching in the states of Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh should contact Dr. Gayatri Singhal, Indian Program Manager, USIEF, New Delhi, E: Gayatri@usief.org.in; Phone: 011 4209 0949.

Teachers teaching in the states of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli should contact Dr. Ryan A. Pereira, Regional Officer, USIEF Mumbai Regional Office, Mumbai, E: ryan@usief.org.in; Phone: 022 2262 4603

Teachers teaching in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana should contact Ms. Pranitha Hemanth, Administrative and EducationUSA Coordinator, USIEF Hyderabad Regional Office, Hyderabad, E: usiefhyderabad@usief.org.in; Phone: 8008465712.

Teachers teaching in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands should contact Ms. Maya Sundararajan, Regional Officer, USIEF Chennai Regional Office, Chennai, E: usiefchennai@usief.org.in; Phone: 9841122433.