Scholarships Available

The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) is offering more than 600 full scholarships to U.S. high school students to study abroad and learn Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and Turkish. Programs begin in Summer 2010.

The Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in cooperation with American Councils for International Education, AFS-USA, iEARN-USA, and Concordia Language Villages, is awarding U.S. government funding to high school and just-graduated students (ages 15 – 18) to participate in summer, one-semester and full-year language programs in countries where these languages are widely spoken. Past participants of the NSLI-Y program are eligible to apply again.

Programs immerse participants in the cultural and political life of their host country, giving them invaluable formal and informal language practice and sparking a lifetime interest in foreign languages and cultures. While abroad, students will have the opportunity to possibly live with a host family, attend intensive language classes or enroll in a local high school, and participate in cultural and community service programs

As program partner, iEARN is administering programs in Korea, Morocco, India, and China. In addition, iEARN will be providing students with access to the Language Lounges -- an online interactive space where students can practice reading and writing their language of study before, during, and after their physical exchange. Through the Language Lounges, NSLI-Y students have access to thousands of native speakers of each of the seven NSLI-Y languages, who are part of the iEARN network around the world.

Students wishing to apply for the scholarship need to:
be U.S. citizens
be between the ages of 15-18 years at the time of departure
be enrolled in high school at the time of application
have at least a 2.5 GPA
Deadline for application is December 4, 2009.

For more information on the NSLI-Y program and to apply, please visit www.NSLIforYouth.org.