We are pleased to announce that finalist notifications for the 2024 CLS Program and CLS Spark virtual initiative have been sent.

Dear , 

We are pleased to let you know we have just completed notifying finalists, alternates and non-selects for the 2024 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program, a program of the U.S. Department of State, and its virtual initiative, CLS Spark.

Please remember: 

  • Students who appear as “Finalist” were selected to receive the award. Congratulations! 
  • Students who appear as “Alternate” will be considered in the alternate promotion process. Alternates are eligible to be selected for the award if there are finalists who do not accept their award. Alternate promotion takes place on a rolling basis up until the start of the program with most promotions taking place before June 1. 
  • Students who appear as “Non-selected” were not selected and will not be considered in the promotion process.

You can now log in to see the selection status for applicants at your institution in the Application Information System (AIS) located at: https://ais.americancouncils.org/start

If you need to reset your password, please use the email address that this email was sent to. After you have reset your password, you will log in with your AIS username and updated password.

As a reminder, notifications were sent to the primary email address listed on each student’s application. If you have students who are waiting to hear back, please encourage them to check their spam filters and to wait 24 hours before reaching out to us with questions. If they still do not see a notification from us, they should email cls@americancouncils.org to confirm their email address for the message.

Finalists at your institution will receive a detailed email from their designated CLS Program Officer outlining next steps in accepting their award. Finalists have until Wednesday, March 13 at 5 PM Eastern to complete the required paperwork and formally accept their award through their AIS applicant portal. 

We recommend setting up an advising appointment with your finalist(s) and also encouraging them to attend the Say Yes to CLS Webinar which will be hosted on March 7th for CLS Spark finalists and on March 11th  for CLS Program finalists. During the webinar, finalists will have an opportunity to hear from alumni across a variety of languages on their experiences with CLS.

Thank you for the work you do year-round to support students in applying for the CLS Program. Please be in touch if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Caitlin Ting 
Assistant Manager for Outreach and Selection
Critical Language Scholarship Program

The CLS Program is a program of the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, supported in its implementation by American Councils for International Education
Sent by American Councils for International Education
1828 L Street NW, Suite 1200
Washington, D.C. 20036