Eligibility Requirements

2012 CLS Program Eligibility Requirements:

• All applicants must be U.S. citizens.*
• Applicants must be currently enrolled in a U.S. degree-granting program at the undergraduate or graduate level.
• Current undergraduate students must have completed at least one year of general college course-work by program start date (one year is defined as two semesters or three quarters).
• Be in acceptable mental and physical health. Grantees will be required to submit a satisfactory Medical Information Form and Physician’s Statement.
• Applicants must be 18 by the beginning of the 2012 CLS Program.
• Please see 2012 CLS Institute Language Levels for more information on language pre-requisites for individual institutes.
  Students in all disciplines, including business, engineering, law, medicine, sciences, and humanities are encouraged to apply.

The U.S. Department of State and CAORC welcome all eligible applications and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, or disability.

*Although the CLS Program will work with awarded students to secure a visa for the CLS institute host country, the program cannot be held responsible for other countries’ visa requirements and/or the denial of a student’s application for a visa. CLS awards are contingent upon the participant securing a host-country visa, and all awardees must meet deadlines and host country requirements set for obtaining a visa.

Ineligibility: CLS applicants cannot be:

• Employees of the U.S. Department of State, for a period ending one year following the termination of such employment. This provision does not include part- time or temporary employees, consultants, and contract employees of the Department of State, unless such persons perform services related to the Bureau's exchange programs;
• Employees of private and public agencies (excluding educational institutions) under contract to the U.S. Department of State to perform services related to exchange programs, for a period ending one year following the termination of their services; or
• Immediate families (i.e., spouses and dependent children) of individuals described in the above paragraphs, for a period ending one year following the termination of such employment. This provision does not disqualify self-supporting members of families who live apart from their parents.

Participants may not accept both the Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Award, part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, and a CLS award in the same academic year. In addition, if participants receive a Fulbright grant with a mandatory pre-departure orientation in Washington, DC, he or she may need to choose between accepting the CLS Program award and the Fulbright grant.

Persons Arrested for, Indicted for, Charged with, or Convicted of a Felony or a Misdemeanor:

A candidate who, at the time of application, or at any subsequent time prior to becoming a grantee, has been convicted of commission of a felony or a misdemeanor (excluding minor traffic violations), must inform the cooperating agency* in writing of such fact. Similarly, a candidate who at the time of application, or at any subsequent time prior to becoming a grantee, has been arrested for, indicted for, or charged with a felony or a misdemeanor (excluding minor traffic violations), and the criminal matter has not been resolved, must inform the cooperating agency in writing of such fact.

Each applicant situation involving a felony or misdemeanor conviction will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. If the candidate has been convicted of a felony, the candidate will not be selected for a grant, unless the review of the case merits an exception. If the candidate has been convicted of a misdemeanor, the candidate shall generally be eligible for selection, pending review of the individual case.

If the candidate is arrested for, indicted for, or charged with a felony or a misdemeanor, the application (and, if already made, the selection) may be suspended until the criminal matter is resolved. The candidate must inform the cooperating agency in writing of such fact. If a grantee is convicted, the grant may be revoked.

After a revocation, the grantee is considered as not having received the grant and will not be an alumnus or alumna of the Critical Language Scholarship Program.

* Before selection, all such statements should be submitted to CAORC. After selection, all Arabic, Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Punjabi, and Urdu grantees should notify CAORC; all Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Turkish grantees should notify American Councils.

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Language Levels and Prerequisites

The equivalent of one year of college-level language study includes but is not limited to: a summer of intensive language study, two semesters of study (audited or for credit), or a year of private tutoring. A typical academic year is 9 months (36 weeks). A typical language course is 3-5 hours per week or 108-180 hours per academic year of language instruction. Applicants who have completed the CLS Program may count each summer of participation as one year of language study. Applicants must choose to apply for only one language offered by the CLS Program.

ARABIC

• Advanced Beginning: Minimum requirement: completion of one year of college-level Arabic, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program. Students should arrive in country comfortable with the Arabic script and sounds, basic vocabulary, and basic grammar (such as the jumla ismiyya, jumla fa’aliyya, idhaafa, the root system etc.).
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Arabic, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program. Students should arrive in country able to speak and write about daily activities and matters of interest as well as their subject of study or research. Students also should have a good grasp of grammar such as identifying and deploying ‘iraab.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Arabic, or its equivalent, prior to the summer program start date. Note: Students applying for the advanced level should arrive in country able to speak and write about a variety of topics beyond their immediate academic subject and have a good grasp of more complex structures of the languages. Students are expected to have begun to delve into authentic texts such as newspapers and streaming video, short stories, and political and social commentaries.

AZERBAIJANI

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Azerbaijani is required, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirements: completion of two years of college-level Azerbaijani or its equivalent, prior to the state of the program. Alternatively, students who have completed two years of college-level Turkish are eligible to apply.
• Advanced: Minimum requirements: completion of three years of college-level Azerbaijani or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

BANGLA

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Bengali/Bangla, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Bangla/Bengali, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program. Note: If using the textbook Teach Yourself Bengali (Radice) students should have completed approximately 20 chapters. If using Introduction To Bengali (Dimock, Et Al) students should have completed Part 1 prior to the program start date.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Bangla/Bengali, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

CHINESE

• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Chinese, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Chinese, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

HINDI

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Hindi is required, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Hindi, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Hindi, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

INDONESIAN

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Indonesian is required, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Indonesian, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Indonesian, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

JAPANESE

• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Japanese, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Japanese, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

KOREAN

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Korean is required, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Korean, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Korean, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

PERSIAN

• Advanced Beginning: Minimum requirement: completion of one year of college-level Persian, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Persian, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Persian, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

PUNJABI

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Punjabi, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Punjabi, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Punjabi, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

RUSSIAN

• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Russian, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Russian, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

TURKISH

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Turkish, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Turkish, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Turkish, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

URDU

• Beginning: No previous knowledge or study of Urdu, up to 2 years of study or equivalent.
• Intermediate: Minimum requirement: completion of two years of college-level Urdu, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.
• Advanced: Minimum requirement: completion of three years of college-level Urdu, or its equivalent, prior to the start of the program.

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Selection Process

Award recipients will be selected on the basis of merit with consideration for:

• Academic record and potential to succeed in a rigorous academic setting;
• Ability to adapt to a different cultural environment;
• Diversity;
• Plan for continuation of study of the language; and
• Plan to use the language in future career.

All applicants are initially read by two outside academic readers, and the top applications are reviewed by panels of academic and experts in the area and language. Applicants will be notified of the results of their application to the CLS Program by mid- to late February. After notification, selected participants will be required to complete a language evaluation. Selected applicants will be assigned to a CLS institute site by mid- to late March based on language evaluation results along with information provided in the online application.

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Grant Benefits

All CLS Program costs are covered for participants including: travel to and from the student's U.S. home city and program location, a mandatory Washington, D.C. pre-departure orientation, applicable visa fees, room, board, group-based intensive language instruction, program-sponsored travel within country, and all entrance fees for CLS Program cultural enhancement activities. Please note that U.S. passport fees will not be paid by the scholarship, and you will be required to cover transportation to and from your U.S. home address and the airport for CLS Program travel. Selected applicants must have a U.S. passport valid through 2013 with at least two blank visa pages by early February 2012. Please plan in advance to avoid visa delays.

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 CLS Alumni Ambassadors

The CLS Alumni Ambassadors are a select group of CLS alumni who volunteer to serve as representatives of the CLS Program to various audiences, including prospective CLS participants, fellow alumni, CLS Program representatives, and the general public. Typical activities of an Alumni Ambassador may include:

• General CLS and/or county-specific presentations
• Participating in online forums (e.g. ExchangesConnect, StateAlumni, facebook)
• Providing prospective CLS students with information about their experience
• Responding to questions from future CLS participants on an as-needed basis
• Speaking on an alumni panel at a CLS pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C.

Click here to view CLS Alumni Ambassador Profiles.