Critical Language Scholarship

U.S. State Department-sponsored scholarships support intensive summer language study in the critical need languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu, at designated language institutes abroad. Applicants must be U.S. citizens; may be FRESHMAN, SOPHOMORES, JUNIORS, SENIORS, or GRADUATE STUDENTS. All fields of study are eligible. Some institutes have language prerequisites, but many are open to beginners. All program costs are covered, including travel, room and board, instruction, visa fees, and entrance fees for program activities.

This scholarship does not require a nomination from the University of Minnesota. The Office for National and International Scholarships consults with interested students on assembling competitive applications, helps them prepare for interviews or other stages of the selection process as necessary, and publicizes results.

Application Deadline

November 15, 2024

Campus Contact

Ja'de Lin Till

External Link

Visit the CLS Website

Application Year(s)

Freshman; Sophomore; Junior; Senior; After Graduation

Award Type(s)

Undergraduate; Graduate; Abroad Experience

University of MN Recipients

2024 -- Lucas Ludwig, Linguistics (Chinese)
2024 -- Vaughn Rowles, Global Studies; Russian (Russian)
2023 -- William Sax, History (Arabic)
2023 -- Lauren Vander Esch, Biology, Society & Environment (Turkish)
2022 – Claire Dupont, Global Studies; Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Korean)
2022 – Thomas Fabian, Math; Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Chinese)
2022 – Eva Kough, Master of Development Practice (Swahili)
2022 – Joli Lacy, Marketing; Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Chinese)
2022 – Tessa Register, Master of Human Rights (Portuguese)
2022 – Samuel Turner, Master of Development Practice (Azerbaijani)
2021 – Courtney Brost, MA in OLPD (Portuguese)
2021 – Jesus Encarnacion, Spanish & Portuguese; French; Linguistics (Portuguese)
2021 – Samuel Erickson, PhD in Biochemistry (Chinese)
2021 – Katherine Hein, Global Studies; Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Chinese)
2021 – Casey Lagueras, Global Studies; Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Arabic)
2021 – Eric Liffrig, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Japanese)
2020 – Nina Afremov, Russian (Russian)*
2020 – Anne Briggs, PhD in Music (Portuguese)*
2020 – Caleb Feltis, Linguistics, Computer Science, French (Chinese)
2020 – Samantha Knight, Linguistics (Japanese)*
2020 – Trae Larson, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Japanese)*
2020 – Eric Liffrig, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Japanese)*
2019 – Benjamin Allard, Asian Languages & Literatures and Political Science (Japanese)
2019 – Clara Bartnik, Economics (Turkish)
2019 – Paulina Crouch, Asian Languages & Literatures and Accounting (Chinese)
2019 – Erin Daniel, Arabic and Global Studies (Arabic)
2019 – Eva Dwyer, Global Studies, Spanish & Portuguese Studies and Asian Languages & Literatures (Arabic)
2019 – Sophie Grey, Asian Languages & Literatures (Chinese)
2019 – Miki Schumacher, English (Japanese)
2019 – Sofia Cerkvenik, Master in Education (Chinese)
2019 – Chelsea Cervantes de Blois, PhD in Geography (Azerbaijani)
2019 – John Dieck, PhD in History (Arabic)
2018 – Amari Bauer, Political Science (Swahili)
2018 – Sara Donlin, English (Korean)
2018 – Austin Kraft, Mathematics and Linguistics (Indonesian)
2018 – Isaac Lanan, Asian Languages & Literatures and Linguistics (Arabic)
2018 – Sydney Michael, Asian Languages & Literatures (Japanese)
2018 – Adam Wegren, Anthropology (Chinese)
2018 – Quratulain Gulamhussein, PhD in Psychology (Arabic)
2017 – Sofia Cerkvenik, History (Chinese)
2017 – Luke Lammers, Aeropspace Engineering (Korean)
2017 – James Welck, Asian Languages and Literatures (Arabic)
2016 – Rosebert Altianas, Inter College Program (Japanese)
2016 –Collin Bradley Political Science and Global Studies (Chinese)
2015 – Sean Nelson Microbiology (Japanese)
2015 – Lillian Ouelette-Howitz Early Childhood Education (Chinese)
2014 – Phillip Bachman, Asian Languages and Literatures–Japanese and Linguistics (Japanese)
2014 – Hana Bushyhead Architecture (Japanese)
2014 – Rebecca Dearing Political Science and Global Studies (Hindi)
2014 – Brittney Johnson Applied Plant Science (Punjabi)
2014 – Margaret Krause Applied Plant Science (Hindi)
2014 – Tamara Marcus Biochemistry and English (Hindi)
2013 – Alicia Nelson, Sociology (Korean)
2012 – Jennifer Kaiser, Spanish & Portuguese Studies (Turkish)
2012 – Myra Burnette, History (Turkish)
2012 – Jennifer Crist, Global Studies (Japanese)
2012 – Mathilda Lien, Anthropology (Arabic)
2012 – Sarah Rosenthal, Global Studies (Russian)
2011 – Asish Abraham, Neuroscience (Japanese)
2011 – Alison Johnson, Global Studies (Hindi)
2011 – Evan Jones, Linguistics (Russian)
2011 – Anna Kaminski, Art, Global Studies (Arabic)
2011 – Maxwell Kaufman, Political Science (Arabic)
2011 – Stephanie Morse–Noland, Asian Lang/Lit (Korean)
2011 – Jessica Oster, Global Studies (Arabic)
2010 – Rebecca Armstrong, Genetics/Cell Biology (Chinese)
2010 – Dustin Chacón, Linguistics (Bengali)
2010 – Tyler Conklin, History (Turkish)
2010 – Brianna Crowley, Global Studies (Turkish)
2010 – Kelly Heitz, Global Studies (Arabic)
2010 – Susan Metzger, Philosophy and Russian (Russian)
2010 – Anna Pirsch, Nursing (Turkish)
2009 – Dustin Chacón, Linguistics (Bengali)
2009 – Evan Jones, Linguistics (Russian)
2009 – Meredith Knaak, Neuroscience and Global Studies (Korean)
2009 – Sydney Lefevre, Anthropology (Turkish)
2009 – Rowan Morbey, History (Russian)
2009 – Jamie Robertson, Linguistics (Arabic)