Critical Language Scholarships

Who Can Apply: US Citizens – Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors, and Graduate Students – GPA of 3.0 or higher recommended – All Majors

Description: Sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Critical Language Scholarships Program was launched in 2006. The Program offers intensive summer overseas study in these critical need foreign languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.

The Program is part of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), a U.S. government interagency effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical need foreign languages. Scholarship recipients - U.S. citizen undergraduate, Master's and Ph.D. students and recent graduates - receive funding to participate in beginning, intermediate and advanced level summer language programs at American Overseas Research Centers and affiliated partners. Recipients are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period and later apply their critical language skills in their professional careers.

Students in all disciplines including business, engineering, science, the social sciences and humanities are encouraged to apply.

Program Preferences: Applicants should have a firm intention of continuing language studies after completion of the summer language institutes. They must also convey clearly how the language of their study will benefit their career.

Award Amount: All program costs are covered for participants. This includes travel between the student's home city and program location, pre-departure orientation costs, applicable visa fees, room, board, travel within country and all entrance fees for program activities. Note: U.S. passport fees will not be paid by the scholarship.