A Comprehensive Guide to Getting a Critical Language Scholarship

Do you want to hone your language skills? Getting a critical language scholarship can help you achieve that goal!

You can get monetary help to travel abroad and learn one of the critical languages. Sounds tempting? Read our guide to find all you need to know about these programs and figure out how you can get this scholarship.

Why Are Critical Language Scholarships Awarded?

Students who wish to learn languages relevant to U.S. politics, economy, and business—called critical languages—can receive a scholarship. The critical languages are sought after by:

U.S. government
U.S. defense
Intelligence sectors
Private organizations
Non-profit organizations

The funds you receive don’t need to be repaid and are there to finance study-abroad programs. Both college and high-school students can apply.

You usually don’t even need to have previous study experience in the language of your choice. You can find scholarships for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Which languages are considered critical? The most commonly listed ones are:

Arabic
Chinese
Indonesian
Indic—Bangla, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu dialects mostly
Japanese
Korean
Persian—Farsi, Dari, Kurdish, Pashto, and Tajiki dialects mostly
Portuguese
Russian
Swahili
Turkic

Which Critical Language Scholarship Program Can You Apply For?

There aren’t many critical language scholarships—the most popular ones are:

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program
National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)
Boren Awards Regional Flagship Language Initiatives

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is the U.S. government program designed to encourage students to learn critical languages through a summer study abroad program.

It covers the tuition, airfare, accommodation, and meal expenses and lasts eight to ten weeks.

The college scholarship is offered for these levels and languages:

Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels
Arabic	Indonesian	Punjabi
Azerbaijani	Japanese	Russian
Bangla	Korean	Swahili
Chinese	Persian	Turkish
Hindi	Portuguese	Urdu

National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)

This is a fully-funded, merit-based scholarship awarded by the U.S. Department of State. The scholarship is for high-school students only. All the costs are covered—including travel fare, visa fees, accommodation, three meals, tuition, health care coverage, and similar.

The available languages are:

Arabic
Chinese (Mandarin)
Hindi
Indonesian
Korean
Persian (Tajiki)
Russian
Turkish

Students at every level are welcome to apply. The program can take you to locations such as:

Belarus
China
Egypt
India
Indonesia
Jordan
Korea
Moldova
Morocco,
Russia
Taiwan
Turkey
Ukraine

Boren Awards Regional Flagship Language Initiatives

Boren Awards Initiatives offers study-language-abroad scholarships for undergraduates. Graduate students can apply for Boren Fellowships.

The program can last from eight to 52 weeks. The maximum amounts depend on the duration, as listed here:

8–11 weeks—$8,000 for a summer program and STEM majors only
12–24 weeks—$12,500
25–52 weeks—$25,000

The initiatives and languages this program includes are listed in the table below:

The Initiative	Languages
The African Flagship Languages Initiative (AFLI)	French Swahili Akan/Twi Wolof Zulu
The Indonesian Flagship Language Initiative (IFLI)	Indonesian
The South Asian Flagship Languages Initiative (SAFLI)	Hindi Urdu
The Turkish Flagship Language Initiative (TURFLI)	Turkish

Where To Look for Critical Language Scholarships

If you wonder where to look for these scholarships, the answer is on the web. You can revise the listed scholarship websites or look into other foreign language scholarships that aren’t tied to critical languages.

Do you want to skip the research process and jump straight into the results? , and we’ll make that happen. Based on your input, we’ll discover and help you apply for all scholarships that meet your needs!

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Look into our learning center to find all the info you need about scholarships and grants.

The Critical Language Scholarship Application Process

The application process differs for every scholarship. Find the information about how to apply for a specific program on its website, or contact the advisors. You can get in touch with the staff in the following ways:

Scholarship Program	Contact Information
CLS Program	Email at cls@americancouncils.org Call at 877-257-9922
NSLI-Y	Email at nsliy@americancouncils.org Call at 866-790-2086
Boren Awards	Email at boren@iie.org Call at 800-618-6737

Note that some of these programs may ask for a scholarship essay or a recommendation letter.

What you also need to pay attention to is:

Eligibility requirements
Deadline

What Are the Eligibility Requirements?

You can qualify for these scholarships if you meet the requirements listed in the table:

Scholarship Program	Eligibility Requirements
CLS Program	Be a U.S. citizen or national Be enrolled in an accredited U.S. undergraduate or graduate study program Complete at least one year of study—if you are an undergraduate Be at least 18 years old Don’t have a parent working for the U.S. Department of State or U.S. Agency for International Development
NSLI-Y	Be a U.S. citizen Have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 or higher Be between 15 and 18 years of age Be enrolled in grades 9–12 at the time of the application Don’t be a current or past participant of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) exchanges Don’t have a parent working for the U.S. Department of State or U.S. Agency for International Development
Boren Awards	Be a U.S. citizen Graduate high school or earn a GED Be at least 18 years of age Plan to study in a country that isn’t in Western Europe, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand Don’t be a citizen of a country where you plan to study Be enrolled in an accredited U.S. undergraduate or graduate study program

When Are the Deadlines?

When you need to apply depends on the scholarship you want. These are the deadlines for each program:

Scholarship Program	Deadline
CLS Program	November 17
NSLI-Y	November 5
Boren Awards	June 1—early deadline March 1 of the following year—last deadline

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Open the DoNotPay website and log in
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