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Apply Now: 2027 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program!

Program Updates October 6, 2026
2027 Application Launch

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. The following languages are offered in 2027:

  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • Hindi
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Persian
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Swahili

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.

Future events will be announced on the CLS website: www.clscholarship.org/events 

Apply Now: https://ais.americancouncils.org/cls
Deadline: Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 8:00 PM EST
Questions? Please contact: cls@americancouncils.org

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