

The application for the 2022 CLS Spark initiative has closed. We will be in touch with all applicants following the review and selection process--thank you for your interest!
The CLS Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Students of diverse disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply. Participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period, and later apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.
Each summer, CLS provides rigorous academic instruction in fifteen languages that are critical to America's national security and economic prosperity. CLS participants are citizen ambassadors, sharing American values and promoting American influence abroad.
The CLS Program provides its scholars intensive language and cultural instruction in an environment designed to maximize their language gains at every level.
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.
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.
June 27, 2022
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May 31, 2022
Heather Sweetser (Arabic 2007), an Arabic instructor at the University of New Mexico, was selected as the 2022 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year..
Shared from ACTFL, June 24, 2022
In Richmond, Virginia, CLS Alumna Julia Beabout (Chinese 2012) and fellow International Exchange Alumnus Grady Hart teamed up to create Monumental Conversations, an augmented reality project that centers on the undertold stories of Black resilience and excellence in Richmond.
Shared from ExchangeAlumni, June 15, 2022
Penn Staters Jocelyn Krieger, Ashley Naraine, Juntae Rocker and Hannah Scholze have earned a 2022 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS).
Shared from Penn State, June 07, 2022