Eligibility Requirements

Fellowship applicants compete only against other applicants from the state of their legal residence. To be eligible to apply for a fellowship, you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen
• Be a teacher, or plan to become a teacher, of American history, American government, social studies, or political science at the secondary school level (grades 7-12)
• Possess a bachelor's degree or plan to receive one no later than August 31 of the year in which you are applying

Professional Teaching Obligation

After receiving the master's degree, each Fellow must teach American history, American government, social studies, or political science in grades 7-12 for one full year for each academic year of funding received under a fellowship, preferably in the state from which the recipient won the fellowship. All teaching must be done in-person at a school.

This was a life-changing experience and my teaching will never be the same—it will be better.

Lisa Dishongh, Texas Fellow

Financial Aspects of the Award

The maximum amount of each award is $24,000, prorated over the period of study, and in no case shall the award exceed $12,000 for one academic year of study. Normally, Fellows receive less than these maximum amounts. Payments are made only for the actual costs of tuition, required fees, and books (as well as room and board if required to live away from your principal residence), and are made only for the minimum number of credits required for the award of the degree.

Failure to complete your graduate degree, to attend the Summer Institute on the Constitution, or to teach qualifying subjects in grades 7–12 for the requisite amount of time entailed by the award will result in forfeiture of the fellowship and require the return of all funds paid under the fellowship, plus applicable interest under federal law.

Types of Fellowships

The Foundation offers two types of fellowships:

• Junior Fellowships are awarded to outstanding college seniors and college graduates without teaching experience who intend to become secondary school teachers of American history, American government, or civics classes where you will teach topics on the U.S. Constitution in grades 7–12. Junior Fellows are expected to complete graduate study within two academic years of full-time study.
• Senior Fellowships are awarded to outstanding current teachers who are required to complete graduate study within five calendar years of part-time study.

Specially Funded James Madison Fellowship

• The Admiral Paul A. Yost, Jr.-James Madison Fellowship is awarded to individuals who meet the eligibility criteria above and have served in the U.S. military.

Full details are found in the James Madison Foundation’s Fellows Handbook which will be given to awardees.

Choice of Graduate School and Degree

The fellowships are intended exclusively for graduate study leading to a master’s degree. James Madison Fellows may attend any accredited institution of higher education in the United States. Each Fellow will be expected to pursue and complete a master’s degree in one of the following:

• Master of Arts (MA) in American history, political science, or government.
• Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in history, political science, or government.
• Master of Education (MEd) that permits a concentration in American history, American government, social studies, or political science.

If you are seeking a second master’s degree, your previous master’s degree must have been completed at least three years before you commence study in the Fellowship.

Constitutional Coursework

The Fellow’s proposed plan of graduate study should contain substantial constitutional coursework. Fellows are encouraged to choose institutions that offer courses that closely examine the origins and development of the U.S. Constitution, the evolution of political theory and constitutional law, the effects of the Constitution on society and culture in the United States, or other such topics directly related to the Constitution. Whatever institution and whichever degree a Fellow selects, at least 12 semester credits (or 18 quarter credits) of Foundation-approved U.S. Constitutional study must be part of the Fellow’s program. Six of these semester credits are earned by the Fellow at the Foundation’s Summer Institute on the Constitution in Washington, D.C.

I thank the Madison Foundation for carrying on the Constitution’s spirit … as I and other Fellows pass the torch to the next generation of Americans in our classrooms.

Sam Tombarelli, New Hampshire Fellow

Foundation’s Summer Institute on the Constitution

A major component of the James Madison Fellowship Program is the successful completion of the residential four-week Summer Institute on the U.S. Constitution, "The Foundations of American Constitutionalism," held in the Washington, D.C. area. Fellows are required to attend the Summer Institute and to live on campus for the duration of the Summer Institute. Fellows attend the Summer Institute after they have matriculated in a graduate program and commenced coursework.

It is expected that the universities at which Fellows are pursuing their graduate study will, upon Fellows' satisfactory completion of the Institute, accept these credits upon transfer from the university at which the Institute is held in fulfillment of the minimum number of credits required for the Fellow's graduate degree. Satisfactory completion of the Institute will fulfill 6 of the Foundation's 12 semester credits required in graduate study of the history and development of the U.S. Constitution.

The Foundation, through fellowship funds, covers the costs of the Institute and Fellows' round-trip transportation to and from the Institute site. The costs of tuition, required fees, books, room, and board entailed by the Institute will be paid for by the Foundation through Fellowship funds.

What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty & Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual and surest support?

James Madison, Jr.