Jun920099:07 am

Language fellowships for graduate students…

…are available via FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships), a Department of Education-sponsored program that provides fellowship allocations to IHEs (institutions of higher education) to assist grad students in foreign language and area or international studies. The IHE applies for the FLAS allocation, then you the grad student apply to your IHE for a summer or year-long fellowship. Check eligibility requirements on the website and talk to your school to see if they are FLAS-enabled.

[The Department of Ed also sponsors an Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program, but it looks like this is more of an institutional foreign language instruction capacity building program than a vehicle for awarding individual grants.]

UPDATE: A September 2008 report from the Department of Ed on the effectiveness of four of its grad fellowship programs, including FLAS. A summary of points on how FLAS fellowships affected participants’ careers:

—Nearly all fellows (92 percent) worked after completing their fellowships, and a majority of fellows (71 percent) worked in jobs that involved expertise they had gained through their FLAS-supported study. Nearly all fellows who reported working in a related job considered that job to be part of a career they were pursuing.

—Among fellows who had held at least one job related to the field they had studied with FLAS support, three-quarters of fellows worked in education, one-fifth in a U.S. private sector job, and one-fifth in foreign or international jobs. About one in nine worked for the military or other Government positions.

—Of fellows who had worked for pay since completing the fellowship, 68 percent worked in a job in which teaching was a major responsibility. These fellows had taught for an average of 3 years at the time of the survey, and 86 percent of them had taught in a field related to the FLAS-supported study.

—FLAS fellows believed that FLAS was very helpful in their degree completion and at least somewhat helpful in obtaining employment in a desired field. Over one-half reported that receiving a FLAS fellowship influenced their occupation and career choices.

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One Response to “Language fellowships for graduate students…”

  1. Alanna says:

    I received FLAS fellowships two summers in graduate school. It was a great opportunity to study a language – Uzbek – I wouldn’t have been able to access otherwise.

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