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 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a summer study abroad opportunity for American college and university students to learn languages essential to America’s engagement with the world.
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.
Why You Should Study Abroad with 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
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.
Just having conversations with people and being open with them about what we did culturally where I’m from; I’ve always wanted to share that with people. Marcus Dunn,
Korean
2011
"The Persian language opens a door to a universe of wonders within the collective history of humankind." Shabbir Abbas,
Persian
2020
The CLS Program was instrumental in getting me to the proficiency level required for my career. My employer cited my language skills as one of the main traits that made me an outstanding candidate. John Krzyzaniak,
Persian
2016
Diplomatic representation of the monolith that is the United States military is very similar to the citizen diplomacy aspect of the CLS Program. You cannot begin to understand culture without the language component. With the CLS Program, you gain authenticity by learning the language. Andrea Howard,
Azerbaijani
2015
Vanessa Rodgers-Wright is an alumna of the CLS Korean Program hosted by Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea. Vanessa is a senior at the University of Central Arkansas double majoring in Political Science and International Studies and minoring in TESOL and Asian Studies. Vanessa’s in…
Today is Juneteenth. Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or Independence Day, is the oldest and most popular annual celebration of the emancipation of enslaved people. On June 19, 1865, Gordon Granger, a Union general, informed the people of Galveston, Texas that they were free …
Cynthia Johnson is an alumna of the 2021 CLS Korean Program hosted by Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea. Cynthia graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in Critical Language and International Studies with a minor in Korean translation and local…
Growing up in rural West Virginia in a town of only 544 people, I had resigned myself to never coming out. I was mainly concerned for my safety, but I also feared the judgment and strange looks I would receive from members of my hometown. Yet, seeing thousands of out and proud LGBTQ+ people, like S…
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..
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.