How to Complete and Submit the Fulbright ETA Recommendation Form

The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant recommendation form is an online questionnaire that three of your recommenders complete inside the Fulbright application portal. The program does not accept traditional letters for ETA applicants. Each recommender answers five short prompts about your teaching ability, adaptability, and potential as a cultural ambassador, with word limits between 70 and 120 words. All three must be submitted by Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.¹

Who Your Recommenders Should Be

Pick people who have watched you work. Faculty who supervised a teaching assistantship, independent study, or capstone project fit well. So do professional supervisors from jobs involving education, community engagement, or cross-cultural work. The official instructions ask recommenders to speak to your English proficiency based on papers, presentations, classroom discussions, or professional observations.²

Relatives cannot serve as recommenders. Fulbright explicitly prohibits parents, siblings, and other family members from submitting recommendations.³

A long relationship helps, but specific examples help more. Someone who supervised one intense semester of student teaching will usually write a stronger form than a professor who gave you an A three years ago and can’t picture you in discussion.

How Your Recommender Gets the Form

You register each recommender through the Fulbright Online Application System. That triggers an automated invitation from FBstudent@iie.org with your name in the subject line, containing the link to the ETA Recommendation Form. If a recommender does not see it, the first place to check is the spam folder; if it’s not there, you can resend the invitation from the portal.²

Submissions happen only through the online system. Emailed or mailed forms are not accepted. Google Chrome is the most compatible browser; the program warns against Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and Firefox because of reported compatibility issues, and tablets and phones cannot be used for submission.⁴

The Five Questions on the Form

Recommenders type responses directly into text fields. No uploads, no letterhead. The instructions ask recommenders not to use hard returns for spacing within their answers.²

The five prompts, in order:

Overcoming challenges, 120 words. Based on the recommender’s observation, comment on the applicant’s ability to overcome challenges.
Teaching or mentoring qualities, 120 words. How the applicant has demonstrated qualities associated with teaching or mentoring.
Interaction in unfamiliar settings, 120 words. How the applicant might interact with students, faculty, and community members in an unfamiliar or culturally different environment.
Representing the United States abroad, 70 words. What impression the applicant would make of the United States.
Additional factors, 90 words. Anything else relevant to a successful ETA experience, including academic background, personal maturity, adaptability, and flexibility.

⁵

What Makes a Response Land

The word limits are tight, so every sentence needs to carry evidence. “She is a wonderful student” fills space without telling a committee anything. “She redesigned a grammar lesson on the spot when half her ESL students couldn’t follow the original activity” gives a mental image of someone who can handle a real ETA classroom.

The instructions ask recommenders to keep in mind that ETAs serve as cultural ambassadors, and that personal suitability matters as much as academic ability. Comments on English proficiency are specifically encouraged, drawing on tests, papers, presentations, or professional writing.²

The five answers are read together. If one describes an applicant as independent and self-directed, another shouldn’t describe someone who needs constant guidance. Committees notice.

Submitting the Form

After completing the five prompts, the recommender signs electronically and clicks submit. A confirmation email then goes to both the recommender and the applicant. Recommenders should save a copy of their responses before submitting, because the program does not provide copies afterward, and once submitted, responses cannot be edited.²

Recommendations are meant to remain confidential. The program asks recommenders not to share their submissions with the applicant.²

Deadlines and How Much Lead Time to Give

Every ETA applicant must submit three recommendations. No fewer, no substitutes. All three must be completed through the online system by Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If you need a submitted recommendation withdrawn and replaced, the deadline to request that a letter be un-submitted is Friday, October 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.¹

The recommender controls the final step, so register them well ahead of the deadline and follow up. Three to four weeks of lead time, plus a brief summary of your host country and project, tends to produce the strongest and most timely submissions.

1
US Fulbright Program. English Teaching Assistant Program Application Components
2
US Fulbright Program. Instructions for ETA Recommendation Writers
3
US Fulbright Program. Application Components: Academic Fields
4
Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Instructions for Study/Research Recommendation Writers
5
Carnegie Mellon University. New Fulbright ETA Recommendation Form Questions