Critical Language Scholarship Program

U.S. leadership abroad—in commerce, global affairs, and security—rests on Americans who can navigate other languages and cultures with expertise and fluency. The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program delivers intensive summer language instruction to high-achieving undergraduate and graduate students, selected through a competitive, merit-based process. Offered in nine languages overseas or virtually, the program condenses a full academic year of language study into eight weeks of rigorous instruction and cultural immersion. Since 2006, the CLS Program has equipped more than 10,000 U.S. participants with the linguistic skills, regional knowledge, and global networks to advance U.S. interests worldwide.