Critical Language Scholarship Program | Homepage
  • Oct 04, 2024

    Apply for the 2025 CLS Program!

    Apply now to learn a critical language next summer with the 2025 CLS Program!

  • Nov 04, 2024

    Now Announcing the 2024 Alumni Photo Contest!

    The CLS Program is thrilled to announce the launch of our 2024 Alumni Photo Contest!

  • Nov 12, 2024

    Igniting my Arabic Journey with CLS Spark

    Wajiha Mekki shares how her CLS Spark Arabic experience has ignited her passion for Arabic language and culture.

The application for the 2025 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is now closed.

Applicants will be contacted by email in January with notification of the status of their application following the initial review process.

You can review your application here.

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is an immersive summer opportunity for American college and university students to learn languages essential to America's engagement with the world.


The CLS Program provides opportunities for American college and university students to study languages and cultures essential to America's engagement with the world. 

Each summer, American undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities across the country, spend eight to ten weeks learning one of a dozen languages at an intensive study abroad institute. The CLS Program is designed to promote rapid language gains and essential intercultural fluency in regions that are critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity.

CLS Spark, an initiative of the CLS Program, provides opportunities for American undergraduate college and university students to study Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Russian virtually at the beginning level. 

Designed to leverage best practices in online language learning, CLS Spark provides students with the opportunity to study critical languages virtually when they may not have access to studying these languages on their campuses.

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by American Councils for International Education.


What Alumni Say About the CLS Program


Key Benefits

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Develop Key Expertise

The CLS Program provides its scholars intensive language and cultural instruction in an environment designed to maximize their language gains at every level.

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Career Ready Skills

Alumni apply their critical language skills in a variety of professional fields in public and private sectors as well as government, helping to support America’s competitiveness across the board.

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Citizen Diplomacy

CLS scholars represent the breadth and diversity of the United States. Through personal engagement they help to spread American values and develop mutual understanding with the people of other countries.



CLS News and Stories

Igniting my Arabic Journey with CLS Spark
A perspective on CLS Spark Arabic told by CLS Digital Ambassador, Wajiha Mekki

November 12, 2024


Alumni Profile: Anna Kozan
Anna Kozan participated in the 2023 CLS Spark for Russian hosted virtually by American Councils for International Education in Chisinau, Moldova and the 2024 CLS Russian Program hosted by American Councils for International Education in Tbilisi, Georgia. Anna graduated from Ramapo Co…

November 04, 2024


Now Announcing the 2024 Alumni Photo Contest!
The CLS Program is thrilled to announce the launch of our 2024 Alumni Photo Contest! We invite alumni of this summer’s program to share their most memorable moments, with winning photos set to be featured in a limited-edition run of CLS postcards and on social media. Now through Monday, December 2 …

November 04, 2024


Alumni Profile: Rebecca Bernstein
Rebecca Bernstein participated in the 2023 CLS Russian Program hosted by the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. She is currently in her first year of the Masters of Eurasian, Russian, and Eastern European Studies program at Georgetown University. Rebecca has a Bachelor of A…

October 23, 2024


CLS in the Press

A year-end review of students and alums who earned prestigious scholarships through the National Scholarship Office

Recipients represent a variety of fields and backgrounds, and their scholarships will provide invaluable opportunities to deepen their studies, gain new perspectives and grow in their fields.

Shared from Virginia Commonwealth University, November 11, 2024


Hastings College historians shine at Northern Great Plains History Conference

Elizabeth Miller, a senior from Arlington, Kansas, received the top undergraduate paper award at the 2024 Northern Great Plains History Conference, which was held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, recently.

Shared from Hastings College, October 18, 2024


2 UCF Students Share Highlights From Their Summer of Language Learning

These Knights are demonstrating what it means to be culturally informed and globally connected.

Shared from UCF Today, October 18, 2024