Number of recipients
In addition to being a prestigious academic exchange program, the Fulbright Program is designed to expand and strengthen relationships between the people of the United States and citizens of other nations and to promote international understanding and cooperation. To support this mission, Fulbright Scholars may be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host community, in addition to their primary activities.
Teach in any academic or professional discipline and advise on curriculum development for all proposed projects. Pursue independent or collaborative research as desired. For Teaching/Research projects, candidates should plan a 50/50 ratio of teaching to research. For the Teaching only awards, the expected commitment is 2-3 classes per semester.
Public and private universities, community colleges, government agencies, and non-profits.
Four to six months; for Flex awards see Flex description.
One-semester grants must begin in either August 2026 or January 2027; longer grants must begin in August 2026.
All Scholars to the Dominican Republic are required to attend a pre-departure orientation, which typically takes place in June, prior to beginning their Fulbright grant.
Flex awards are offered for teaching, teaching/research, and research grants.
The Flex Award is designed for scholars who require multiple visits to the host country. This option allows grants to be conducted over two or three short segments. Applicants must select Flex in the application form, and clearly describe their plans for Flex in their project statement, including a project timeline. Flex grantees may be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host-country academic community.
Areas of interest include (but are certainly not limited to):
All applicants must meet the Program eligibility requirements (click to review the requirements).
Please see "additional comments" section for a non-exhaustive list of university contacts.
Applicants are encouraged to consult the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) “Can-Do Statements” to determine if they are qualified.
Applicants are encouraged to register qualified language evaluator, such as a language instructor or a translator, to conduct the external assessment in the application. Being a native speaker alone does not qualify an individual to conduct the assessment.
Applicants who are native speakers do not need to complete an external evaluation.
Preference for applicants with a Ph.D/terminal degree and three years of teaching experience. A master's degree is acceptable with five to seven years of teaching experience.
Research Scholars should have a Ph.D/terminal degree and five years research experience.
Professionals and/or Artists outside of academia should have at least seven years of experience in their field of expertise if they do not hold a terminal degree.
U.S. Embassy website: https://do.usembassy.gov/
Applicants without contacts in the Dominican Republic may contact the U.S. Embassy for assistance; inquiries may be directed to the Emerging Voices Specialist, Lidia Valez or Exchanges Coordinator, Crislena Mendez, copying the Embassy Santo Domingo Scholarship inbox.
$2,850
For Flex grants, round-trip travel will be included for each segment of the grant for the Scholar only. Dependent travel will not be provided for Flex Scholars.
$1,000 books and educational materials allowance for teaching and teaching/research grants; these materials should be donated to the host institution or other entity upon grantee's departure.
$300 - $500 research allowance for research-only grants.
Additional living and housing allowance is provided for grantees with one accompanying dependent or two or more accompanying dependent. These amounts range from $200/month to $600/month.
In addition, travel allowances are provided for up to two dependents. These amounts range from $1,500 - $3,000.
Dependents must accompany the grantee for at least 80% of the period abroad and a minimum of one semester in order to qualify for additional dependent benefits. Dependent benefits are not provided to Flex grantees.
Renting a one-bedroom apartment in a modern building in Santo Domingo is approximately $1200-$1300 per month. Approximately $1000 per month should be budgeted for food and transportation expenses for a comfortable stay in the Dominican Republic. You may consult a cost-of-living calculator to determine potential costs for goods and services.
During their grant period, Fulbright U.S. Scholars in the Western Hemisphere (WHA) region may apply for a short-term regional travel grant for activities such as workshops, seminars, presentations, lectures, performances, exhibits, curricular advising and similar projects at institutions in eligible WHA countries. (Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados and Eastern Caribbean, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay).
The Regional Travel Program covers travel to and from the destination; lodging may be offered by the host institution. Scholars may only apply for this grant once they are in country on their Fulbright grant. Scholars who apply for the Flex award are ineligible for the Regional Travel Program. Additional information can be found on the Regional Travel Program website.
Please refer to the figures above for an estimate of total monthly Fulbright award benefits. Benefits may include a monthly base stipend, living and housing allowances, and additional one-time allowances. Benefits may vary based on a scholar's current academic rank (or professional equivalent), the city of placement, the type of award (teaching, teaching/research, or research), and the number of and duration of stay of accompanying dependents. Research-only or Professional Project grantees receive a standard stipend that is not adjusted for academic rank. In most cases, dependent benefits will not be provided to Flex grantees, or to grantees pursuing grants less than four months (or a semester) in length.
Final grant amounts will be determined prior to the start of the academic year and are subject to the availability of funds. The United States Department of State reserves the right to alter, without notice, participating countries, number of awards and allowances.
In the Dominican Republic the largest public four-year university is the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD). UASD serves approximately 200,000 students and is the first university to be opened in the Western Hemisphere. There are nearly 50 other universities, including another public four-year university for education students, the Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Salomé Ureña, and several two-year technical higher education institutions focused on offering associate degrees and certificate programs. There are also several private universities that are appropriate for Fulbright grantees.
In addition to working with universities, scholars may also affiliate with NGOs and other organizations. The U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section can suggest possible affiliations and guide scholars to specified institutions. However, it is the responsibility of the grantee to finalize affiliation arrangements. Post Santo Domingo highly recommends applicants align their proposals with the U.S. Embassy Integrated Country Strategy Goals, which you can find through the following link: Integrated Country Strategies - United States Department of State.
The academic year in the Dominican Republic is August to December and January to May. Universities are open to receiving U.S. scholars to teach and also conduct research. Fields of special interest include agriculture, climate mitigation and resilience, education, environmental sciences, consumer protection, technology, science, mathematics, economics, anti-corruption, English language teaching, tourism and urban planning. Most universities are willing to support research in the above-mentioned areas, as well. Applicants should be aware that the level of studies in mathematics and the hard sciences is not necessarily comparable to the level in the United States.
As you prepare your Fulbright application, we encourage you to read the information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Click here for a full list of Fulbright Scholars to the Dominican Republic.
Visit our Scholar Directory to view and search all Fulbright alumni. You can also learn more about Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors.
Below, you will find a list of contacts at Dominican higher education institutions and information on some of their related areas of interest. Please note: this is not an exhaustive list and applicants may affiliate with institutions not listed here:
• Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, (PUCMM): Caribbean studies, urban planning, finance, biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, linguistics, education, evaluation and curriculum development. Contact Vice Chancellor Dr. Kiero Guerra or International Relations Director José Miguel Hernández at jhernandez@pucmm.edu.do.
• Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD): Arts, humanities, social sciences (including political science, economics, sociology and psychology), education, natural disaster mitigation, sciences (to include botany, biology, chemistry, physics and zoology). Contact Rocio Billini.
• Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE): Arbovirosis, mental health, non-communicable diseases: diabetes and cardiovascular, health, literacy, neurocognition and poverty, prosthodontics, cardiology, dental bio-materials, autism, green roofs, teaching of mathematics. Contact Dra. Aída Mencía-Ripley.
• Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC}: Technology and telecommunications, physics, business, tourism development, engineering and environmental sciences. Contact Maria Luisa Ferrand.
• (ISA): Forestry, agronomy, biotechnology, veterinary sciences and food technology. Contact Angel Castillo.
• Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña (UNPHU) Medicine, dentistry, architecture, veterinary and civil engineering. Contact Jose Rafael Espaillat.
• Universidad APEC: Business administration. Contact Fiordaliza Bencosme.
• Universidad Dominico-Americano: TEFL, TESOL, English teaching and curriculum development for English programs. Contact: Thelma Camarena.
• Instituto Tecnico Superior Comunitario (ITSC): Community college development and training for faculty, arts (interior design, fashion design, event production, furniture design and production), electromechanics (electricity, automotive mechanics, refrigeration, electronics) logistics and manufacturing, health (clinical simulations) and English training for community college professors. Contact: Academic Vice Chancellor Maria Corporan at maria.corporan@itsc.edu.do
• Instituto Tecnológico de las Américas (ITLA): Technology and English language. Contact: Head of the International Relations Department, Camila Michele Alcantara, cmalcantara@itla.edu.do or Nicole Méndez nmendez@itla.edu.do, Assistant of the International Relations Department