(a) Criteria for selection
Madison Fellows shall be selected for their academic achievements and their potential to become secondary school teachers of social studies and American history.

(b) Competition for selection; application

(1) The Foundation is authorized, either directly or by contract, to provide for the conduct of a nationwide competition for the selection of fellowship recipients. Each applicant must have a demonstrated interest in pursuing a course of study which emphasizes the Constitution, its principles, and its history, and have a demonstrated record of willingness to devote themselves to civil responsibility.

(2) Each application shall be accompanied by an essay explaining the importance of the study of the Constitution both to the applicant's career aspirations and contributions to public service, and to citizenship generally in a constitutional regime.

(3)

(A) Each application shall include a description of a program of study for the graduate program, designating the courses to be taken, and the proposed Master's thesis, where appropriate.

(B) For the purpose of this paragraph, the Board of Trustees of the Foundation shall establish general criteria for programs in constitutional studies.

(c) Regional selection of recipients
The Foundation shall adopt selection procedures which shall assure that at least one Madison Fellow shall be selected each year from each State, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and considered as a single entity, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas in which there are at least two resident applicants who meet the minimum criteria established by the Foundation; and, if sufficient funding is available, to invite applications from scholars overseas for study in the United States.