Applications are now being accepted for the U.S. Department of State’s Summer 2016 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Programin 14 critical foreign languages.

The application is available online at: http://www.clscholarship.org    Application deadline: November 23, 2015, 7:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.

The CLS Program is overseen by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is a overseas,intensive language and cultural immersion program for American undergraduate and graduate students.CLS has summer sessions each year in a variety of overseas locations, and uses an intensive, group-based method of language instruction.  CLS goals are to increase the number of Americans studying and mastering critical languages, and to build relationships between the people of the United States and other countries.

CLS provides opportunities to a diverse range of students, from across the United States, at every level of language learning.  The CLS Program seeks participants with diverse interests, from a wide variety of fields of study, backgrounds and career paths, with the purpose of representing the full diversity of the United States. Students from all academic disciplines, including business, engineering, law, medicine, science, social sciences, arts and humanities are encouraged to apply.

Eligibility requirements – Applicants must be a U.S. citizen at the time of application, and be enrolled in an accredited U.S. degree-granting program at the undergraduate (associate’s/bachelor’s) or graduate (master’s/doctoral/professional degree) level.  For more information about CLS eligibility requirements, visit:

     http://www.clscholarship.org/information-for/applicants.

The 14 CLS languages areArabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.  Swahili will, for the first time, be offered at the beginning through advanced levels. Most CLS languages do not require prior language training, but there are prerequisites for Arabic, Chinese, Persian, Russian, and Japanese.  For more information about prerequisites, visit: http://www.clscholarship.org/information-for/applicants.

Costs covered by CLS include:  Intensive overseas group-based language courses (20+ hours per week); room and board, often with a host family; a full cultural program; host community language partner; U.S. academic credit issued through Bryn Mawr College; domestic and international airfare; and a small stipend to cover incidental expenses and meals not provided by the program.

There is no requirement for CLS alumni to perform U.S. Government service after they participate in the program. Participants are, however, expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period, and to later apply their critical language skills in their professional careers. Participants are selected based on their commitment to language learning and plans to apply their language skills to their future academic or professional pursuits.

Prior to preparing their applications, interested students should review the full eligibility and application information on the CLS Program website:
http://www.clscholarship.org/information-for/applicants.

For news, updates and more information about the CLS Program, please visit the CLS website and Facebook page:

Website: http://www.clscholarship.org ; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CLScholarship

For questions not covered in the CLS website’s FAQs, , please contact: cls@americancouncils.org