A Program of the -
Mar 17, 2025
Announcing the 2025 CLS Program Awards
Congratulations to the nearly 600 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students selected for the 2025 CLS Program!
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Mar 06, 2025
The Critical Importance of Learning a Foreign Language in the Military
This blog is written by CLS alumnus Hyunbean Park, an Army Officer and alumnus of the 2024 CLS Russian Program.
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Jan 13, 2025
Announcing 2024 CLS Alumni Photo Contest Winners
The CLS team was amazed by the thoughtful entries we received from 2024 alumni and want to thank all the alumni who submitted photos.
The application for the 2026 CLS Program is now open. Start your application today.
The CLS Program provides immersive summer programs for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to learn languages of strategic importance to the United States’ national security and economic prosperity.
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.
The CLS Program provides immersive summer programs for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to learn languages of strategic importance to the United States’ national security and economic prosperity. Participants receive the equivalent of one year of language study in eight weeks, through intensive language instruction and cultural activities that reinforce both language learning and intercultural competence. Since 2006, the CLS Program has supported over 10,000 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students. CLS alumni represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
What Alumni Say About the CLS Program
Key Benefits
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.
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.
Citizen Diplomacy
CLS scholars represent the breadth of the United States. Through personal engagement they help to spread American values and develop mutual understanding with the people of other countries.
Languages Offered
CLS News and Stories
Alumni Profile: Vinny Nguyen
Vinny Nguyen participated in the 2024 CLS Spark Mandarin program hosted by the LTL School in Singapore. This summer, he is continuing his language studies as part of the 2025 CLS Mandarin cohort in Taipei, Taiwan. Nguyen is currently pursuing a BS in political science and economics. His professiona…July 12, 2025
Alumni Profile: Raven Miller
Raven Miller participated in the 2022 CLS Spark Russian Program, the 2023 CLS Russian Program hosted by the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and the 2024 CLS Russian Program hosted by Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. She recently graduated with a BA in linguisti…July 12, 2025
Alumni Profile: Nisreen Kalai
Nisreen Kalai participated in the 2023 CLS Spark Arabic Program hosted by the TAFL Center of Alexandria University in Alexandria, Egypt and the 2024 CLS Arabic Program hosted by the Noor Majan Arabic Institute in Nizwa, Oman. Nisreen is a recent graduate from New College of Florida and studied…July 12, 2025
Alumni Profile: Kahiwa Sachs
Kahiwa Sachs participated in the 2024 CLS Arabic Program hosted by Noor Majan Daaris Institute in Nizwa, Oman. She recently graduated with a BA in international relations and an Arabic minor from the University of Iowa. Kahiwa plans to pursue a master’s degree in urban and regional planning and hop…July 12, 2025
CLS in the Press
Learning the Language of the Law: Meet Ivona Kulusic-Ho ’28
Following her experiences tutoring ESL students through Teach for America and immersing herself in a Chinese language program in her father’s native Taiwan, Ivona Kulusic-Ho ’28 is embarking on her law school journey this year.
Shared from Fordham Law News, November 20, 2025
Augustana Student Becomes Second South Dakota Student to Receive Obama Foundation Voyager Scholarship
This past September, Augustana University student Zouhera Mahamed ‘27 was named a recipient of the Obama Foundation’s Voyager Scholarship (also known as the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service).
Shared from Augustana University, November 18, 2025
Let’s Talk About Hard Power: America’s Universities Are National Security Assets
or too long, Americans have underestimated the strategic value of our universities. The popular belief is that higher education’s chief contribution to national security is soft power—the goodwill generated by cultural exchange, academic diplomacy and global networking. That’s accurate, but it’s only a small part of the security story.
Shared from Inside Higher Ed, November 10, 2025