The Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Awards provide funding for recent college graduates and young professionals to teach English in classrooms abroad, serving as cultural ambassadors for the United States. Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (Fulbright ETAs) serve as full-time assistants to teachers at schools ranging from kindergarten to university level. With awards offered in 90 countries – each with different requirements and levels of competitiveness – the application process for a Fulbright ETA award can be challenging, even with the help of your university fellowship office.
This article includes the must-know statistics for the 2024-2025 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Awards, including which regions and countries are the most competitive, which award the most ETA grants, and which have no foreign language requirements!
The 2024-2025 Fulbright ETA application deadline is Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 5 pm Eastern Time.
Each year, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program publishes statistics on the number of Fulbright ETA applications and awards for each country for the last three application cycles. Since it can be daunting to sort through the statistics for each country, we crunched the numbers to save you time and provide helpful insights for your application. This article summarizes valuable statistics from the three most recent Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assitant (ETA) Award application years (2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024) published by Fulbright as of July 28, 2023.
Want to gain similar insights into the Fulbright Study/Research Awards? Read 10 Must-Know Fulbright U.S. Student Study/Research Grant Statistics for the 2024-2025 Awards.
Here are the ten must-know Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant statistics for the 2024-2025 awards!
1. How competitive is the Fulbright U.S. English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant?
On average, about 1 in 4 applicants receive a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award. The average award rate (total awards/applications) from 2021-2024 was 22%. However, the 2021-2022 statistics are the primary reason this number is so low. In 2021-2022 the award rate was 13% due to increased applications and a reduced number of Fulbright grants awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic. The average award rates for 2022-2023 (26%) and 2023-2024 (29%) are significantly higher and result from fewer applications and increased awards.
It is important to note that award rates vary significantly by region and country. For example, across the 2021-2024 award years, the South & Central Asia region had the highest cumulative award rate of 27%, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (27%), East-Asia Pacific (26%), the Western Hemisphere (24%), Europe & Eurasia (20%), and the Middle East & North Africa, which had the lowest cumulative award rate of 13%. The individual country award rates also varied widely, ranging from an average of 5% (Croatia) to 100% (Zambia).
2. How many Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant applications are submitted annually?
On average, Fulbright receives more than 4,000 Fulbright ETA applications each year. The most recent application cycle for 2023-2024 awards received 4,392 applications, showing a significant decrease from previous years, including a 12% decrease from the 2022-2023 cycle’s 4,974 applications and a 25% decrease from 2021-2022’s 5,863 applications.
On average, the Europe & Eurasia region receives over half of Fulbright ETA applications (52%), followed by the East-Asia Pacific region (24%), the Western Hemisphere (14%), the Middle East & North Africa (4%), South & Central Asia (3%), and Sub-Saharan Africa (3%).
The total number of Fulbright ETA applications has declined yearly since 2021-2022. This decline has occurred across all regions except South & Central Asia, which increased from 112 (2022-2023) to 167 applications (2023-2024).
3. How many Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grants are awarded annually?
On average, more than 1,100 Fulbright ETA Grants are awarded to U.S. students annually. While the number of grants awarded varies yearly, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program awarded 1,274 English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grants in 2023-2024, a 3% decrease from the 1,315 ETA awards in 2022-2023 but a 165% increase from the 774 awards in 2021-2022, which was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fulbright continues to expand opportunities to teach English abroad. Several new Fulbright ETA awards for 2024-2025 are on offer, including 80 English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Awards in South Korea!
4. Which Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant countries receive the most applications?
Spain consistently receives the most Fulbright ETA applications. Across 2021-2024, Spain received an average of 801 applications annually, followed by Taiwan (533), South Korea (335), Germany (312), Colombia (267), Mexico (182), Greece (181), Italy (139), Czech Republic (137), France (112), Bulgaria (84), Belgium (76), Indonesia (72), Vietnam (71), Argentina (71), the Netherlands (69), Thailand (66), Norway (65), Brazil (62), and Turkey (Türkiye) (61).
If you want to apply to one of these popular countries, we suggest getting insights and tips from former Fulbright ETA fellows. At ProFellow, you can read interviews with Fulbright ETAs in these countries, including our feature on Magaly Cabrera-Ortiz’s Fulbright ETA experience in the Czech Republic.
5. Which Fulbright U.S. English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant countries receive the fewest applications?
On average, the regions that receive the fewest applications are Sub-Saharan Africa and South & Central Asia. The chart below shows the top 20 countries that receive the fewest applications on average. These countries typically receive from 3 to 12 applications per year: Zambia (3), Belarus (3), Cameroon (4), Saudi Arabia (4), Timor-Leste (4), Honduras (5), Malawi (5), Benin (5), Madagascar (7), Mauritius (7), Botswana (8), Guatemala (8), Serbia (10), Bosnia & Herzegovina (10), Ghana (10), Paraguay (10), Uganda (10), Azerbaijan (11), Bahrain (12), and Cote d’Ivoire (12).
More than 40 countries received less than twenty applications per year, on average, during this timeframe. This list includes Albania, Armenia, Costa Rica, Estonia, Hungary, Montenegro, Panama, Switzerland, and Sri Lanka. Be sure to look into the status and eligibility of any countries you consider applying to.
6. Which Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant countries award the most grants?
Spain awards the most Fulbright ETA Grants yearly, with an average of 174, only one award more than Taiwan’s average of 173, the runner-up in this category. Germany (121 awards) and South Korea (80 awards) ranked third and fourth for countries with the most awards provided on average.
Understanding the number of applications and award rates for these popular countries is helpful. For example, among the top 3 most popular countries, Spain’s average award rate is 22%, Taiwan’s 33%, and Germany’s 39%! In the top 20 countries with the most awards on average in 2021-2024, the average award rates range from 8% (Italy) to 65% (Brazil). Other countries included in this list with above-average award rates include Kazhakstan (48%), Uzbekistan (42%), Slovak Republic (41%), Romania (39%), Turkey (33%), Bulgaria (31%), and Argentina (31%).
7. Which Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) countries are the most competitive?
On average, Croatia had the lowest average award rate at 3%. The following countries join Croatia as the most competitive countries for a Fulbright ETA award according to their average award rates: Greece (5%), Luxembourg (5%), Netherlands (5%), India (5%), Greenland (6%), Norway (6%), South Africa (7%), Indonesia (7%), Cyprus (7%), Algeria (7%), Palestinian Territories (West Bank) (8%), Italy (8%), Belgium (9%), France (11%), Albania (11%), Bahrain (11%), Ecuador (12%), Malta (12%), and Costa Rica (13%).
If you are considering highly competitive countries, consider exploring other countries in the region or ones offering similar research or study opportunities. For example, suppose you are interested in applying to Croatia, Greece, or Luxembourg, with an average award rate of 3-5%. In that case, consider other countries in Europe with higher award rates, such as the Slovak Republic (41%), Romania (39%), and Bulgaria (31%). Similarly, South Africa is also a competitive country for a Fulbright ETA award, with an award rate of 7% in 2021-2024. If you are interested in applying for a Fulbright ETA grant in South Africa, consider other countries in sub-Saharan Africa that have higher award rates, like neighboring Botswana (65%), Zambia (100%), or Malawi (40%).
8. Which Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant countries are the least competitive?
The top 20 countries with the highest average award rates from 2021-2024 are Zambia (100%), Timor-Leste (85%), Cameroon (75%), Botswana (65%), Brazil (65%), Cote d’Ivoire (57%), Benin (54%), Kazakhstan (48%), Honduras (43%), Uzbekistan (42%), Slovak Republic (41%), Kosovo (40%), Saudi Arabia (40%), Malawi (40%), Madagascar (40%), Romania (39%), Kyrgyzstan (38%), Bosnia & Herzegovina (37%), Mongolia (36%), and Tajikistan (34%).
It is important to note that these countries generally receive fewer applications, affecting their award rates. For example, with a 100% award rate, Zambia only had three applications during this period. Similarly, Cameroon awarded three of the four applicants a Fulbright ETA during this period. That said, Brazil offered 120 awards from the 186 applicants from 2021-2024.
9. Which Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant countries don’t have a foreign language requirement?
For the 2024-2025 Fulbright ETA Award year, there are 65 countries with no foreign language requirement. However, some awards recommend having intermediate or advanced proficiency in a local language. Other awards recommend only having a novice level of proficiency in a local language, which one can quickly gain from a book or a language learning app like Duolingo or Babbel before starting a Fulbright fellowship.
There are 56 countries where you can do a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Award in 2024-2025, speaking only English (36 countries) or a novice level of proficiency with a local language (20 countries).
Be sure to look into the foreign language requirements for each country you are considering applying for. Even if language proficiency is not required, you may be up against candidates proficient in the local language, and some language proficiency may improve not only your candidacy but also your proposed studies or research.
10. Which Fulbright U.S. Student English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grant countries offer Critical Language Enhancement Awards?
Critical Language Enhancement Awards (CLEA) provide selected Fulbright U.S. Student Program grantees three to six months of intensive language study in their host country as an enhancement to their Fulbright grant.
In 2024-2025, Jordan is the only country offering a Critical Language Enhancement Award (CLEA) for Fulbright ETAs.
If you plan to apply for a Critical Language Enhancement Award, read these tips from Fulbright Study/Research alumna Jennifer Lindsey.
Conclusion
We hope these Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) statistics help you identify the best-fit countries and options for your Fulbright ETA application. However, Fulbright ETA awards aren’t simply a numbers game. Only solid and compelling applications will be accepted. The key is to prepare well using all available resources like your mentors, former Fulbright fellows, and ProFellow. Be sure to tell a story that shows how you and your project proposal or studies connect to the Fulbright mission.
Here are a few resources to help you get on the right side of the statistics:
- Interviews with Fulbright ETA winners
- How to Choose a Fulbright Host Country: Advice from Two Former Fulbrighters
- 5 Top Tips from Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Alumni
- How to Apply to Fulbright as an At-Large Candidate
- How to Create a Winning Fulbright Statement of Grant Purpose
- Tips for Polishing Your Fulbright ETA Application
- 5 Tips for a Successful Fulbright ETA Semi-finalist Interview
Best of luck with your application!
Want insider strategies for your Fulbright application? Purchase the Fulbright Applicant Mastermind workshop by ProFellow Founder and Fulbright Award Winner Dr. Vicki Johnson.
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