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.
Conduct research and/or teach in any discipline. Conduct faculty training or in-service teacher training as requested. Teaching load is a maximum of two courses at the undergraduate or graduate level.
For teaching/research projects, candidates should plan a 60/40 ratio of teaching to research.
Any institution in El Salvador, including but not limited to, universities, NGOs, research centers. Please see "helpful links" section for a non-exhaustive list of potential host institutions.
4 to 6 months total for both non-Flex and Flex awards. (Please see the Flex Description section for additional details on Flex award parameters.)
Grants may begin no earlier than August 2026. Semester-long grants should begin in August 2026 or January 2027.
All Scholars to El Salvador are required to attend a pre-departure orientation, which typically takes place in early to mid-July, prior to beginning their Fulbright grant.
Flex awards are offered for teaching/research, teaching-only and research-only 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.
All disciplines will be considered. Below is a list of disciplines that are specific to host institutions. This list is not exhaustive, and projects are not limited to these disciplines. A new higher education law, designed to address the lack of educational and employment opportunities in El Salvador, will move the Salvadoran universities from a local system of evaluation to an academic credit system, therefore curriculum specialists and those experts in academic credits design are welcome
Instituto Especializado Centro Cultural Salvadoreño Americano (ICC); Universidad Andres Bello (UNAB); Universidad Católica de El Salvador (UNICAES); Universidad de Oriente (UNIVO); Universidad Gerardo Barrios (UGB) and Universidad Tecnologica (UTEC) will develop a new BA Program to be taught in English.
Universidad de Oriente (UNIVO), Universidad Gerardo Barrios (UGB) are now developing Computer Engineering, Software Development, and Coding BA Programs in English.
Universidad Catolica de El Salvador (UNICAES) is now developing a Textiles undergraduate degree program and Nursing Program in English.
Universidad Tecnologica (UTEC), Business Administration and Tourism: Teach one to two courses in any area of Business Management, Business Development or Entrepreneurship at the graduate or undergraduate level. Offer training to faculty on new trends in Business Education, Business Incubation, and trends in connecting university courses to what is needed in business.
UES Universidad de El Salvador: Particular interest in candidates in the fields of Anthropology, Computer Science, Distance Learning, Education, Entrepreneurship, and Literature.
Engineering: Teach at the undergraduate level, supervise graduate students, and offer training to faculty in new trends in engineering. Universities with interest in engineering include Universidad Don Bosco (UDB) and Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA).
All applicants must meet the Program eligibility requirements (click to review the requirements).
Applicants are encouraged to contact the proposed host institution to discuss their proposed project.
Please note that applicants selected for an award (finalists) must receive final approval of the proposed host institution by the U.S. Embassy.
Applicants without contacts in El Salvador may contact the U.S. Embassy for assistance with establishing affiliations.
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 must 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.
Intermediate to Advanced Spanish is required. Teaching will be conducted in Spanish.
Applicants who do not have Spanish proficiency may be considered if the project does not require it and/or could be successful with an interpreter. Applicants with limited language proficiency must also submit the language evaluation.
Ph.D. is preferred, but master's degree with five years of teaching experience is acceptable.
U.S. Embassy - San Salvador
U.S. Department of State
Catholic University (UNICAES)
University of Central America
University Don Bosco
University Tecnologica
Instituto Tecnologico Central America
Escuela Superior de Economia y Negocio (ESEN)
Centro Cultural Salvadoreño Americano/Instituto Especializado de Nivel Superior
University of El Salvador
Universidad Gerardo Barrios
Universidad Francisco Gavidia
$2,950
For Flex grants: round trip travel will be included for each segment of the grant for the grantee only. Dependent travel will not be provided.
$1,000 books and educational materials allowance will be provided 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 $400/month.
In addition, travel allowances are provided for up to two dependents. These amounts range from $1,600 to $3,200.
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.
You may choose to consult a cost-of-living calculator to do further research on the potential cost of goods and services in El Salvador.
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.
El Salvador faces many challenges and, while academia is no exception, opportunities for U.S. scholars are everywhere, particularly in engineering, hard sciences, natural resources and business development.
While most universities favor the social sciences and funding for research can be scarce, the country has a budding energy economy and several good universities, including Universidad Don Bosco (UDB), have started academic programs in the field and would welcome collaboration with U.S. scholars. There is also a great need for technical and business development expertise, particularly in the area of entrepreneurship. The excellent private business university, ESEN, is doing work in these areas, as well as engineering, and would make a good potential host institution in those fields. While the University of El Salvador is the largest and only public university, institutional obstacles can make a successful placement there challenging.
The first semester of most universities is early January to mid-June, and the second semester is late June to early December. For teaching/research projects, candidates should plan a 60/40 teaching/research ratio. The U.S. Embassy in San Salvador will arrange or confirm affiliations for all grants. In some cases requested grant lengths may be adjusted at the discretion of the Fulbright program.
Short-term flex grants for teaching, research or teaching/research, for one-to-three month segments over one or two consecutive years, are available. Final approval of flex grants will be contingent upon available funding.
Cases of the Zika virus have been reported in the Western Hemisphere. As you prepare your Fulbright application, we encourage you to read the information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Visit our Scholar Directory to view and search all Fulbright alumni. You can also learn more about Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors.
Applicants without contacts in El Salvador may contact the U.S. Embassy for assistance with affiliation. Inquiries may be directed to Fernando Herrera, Cultural Affairs Specialist. Applicants are encouraged to contact potential hosts.