Government Language Scholarships
The United States government provides several scholarships that allow U.S. citizens to pursue studies in foreign languages. These scholarships aim to eliminate the shortage of Americans with skills in several critical foreign languages. Various scholarships exist that support students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Most government scholarships for foreign language study specify that a student must study one of several critical languages in order to qualify.
Critical Language Scholarship Program
The United States Department of State provides scholarship assistance to students wishing to learn a foreign language through the Critical Language Scholarship Program. This scholarship pays for a student to receive seven to ten weeks of intensive language training in one of the following thirteen languages: Arabic, Persian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese and Russian. This scholarship is open to students at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral level. In order to be eligible, a student must be a U.S. citizen, must be at least 18 years of age and must be enrolled in a collegiate program of study. A student does not need to be pursuing a degree in foreign languages to be eligible. The program takes place during the summer, and may take place in any country where the target language is spoken. Interested students should visit the CLSP website for more information.
Council of American Overseas Research Centers
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 178
Washington, DC 20013-7012
www.clscholarship.org
Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Awards
The U.S. State Department also provides scholarship assistance to students who have already been granted a Fulbright grant through the Critical Language Enhancement Award. This scholarship allows a Fulbright recipient to undertake three to six months of intensive language training in a foreign nation. Under this program, a student may elect to study one of the following languages: Arabic, Azeri, Bahasa Indonesia, Bangla/Bengali, Mandarin Chinese, Farsi, Gujarati, Hindi, Korean, Marathi, Pashto, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish or Urdu. In order to be eligible, a student must be a United States citizen, and must have received a Fulbright grant to study in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Russia, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkey or The United Arab Emirates. Interested students should visit the Fulbright website for complete program details.
IIE Headquarters
809 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017-3580
212-984-5330
us.fulbrightonline.org
NSEP Language Flagship Fellowships
The federal government and the National Security Education Program provide scholarship assistance to students of foreign languages through the NSEP Language Flagship Fellowships. These scholarships support graduate students while they pursue a master's degree in a foreign language. Through this program, students may study Arabic, Chinese, Korean or Persian. NSEP Language Flagship Fellowships require that a student study in the United States and at an institution overseas. The annual deadline for application is January 14. Prospective applicants should visit the website for The Language Flagship to obtain complete program details, which vary from year to year.
National Security Education Program
The Language Flagship
Institute of International Education
1400 K Street, NW
6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-2403
800-618-NSEP
flagship@iie.org
thelanguageflagship.org
Tags: Language Flagship, Critical Language, foreign languages, United States, assistance students, Flagship Fellowships