**Note: The application for the 2025 CLS Program and CLS Spark virtual initiative will open in early October. Stay tuned for the application debut.
**Note: Applying to the Critical Language Scholarship Program for intensive language study in summer 2025? Please join UW advisers for a workshop covering the application’s short essays and personal statement. (Oct 30th, 4-5p) The Critical Language Scholarship funds intensive summer language study. Join UW advisers for a workshop covering the application’s short essays and personal statement.
The CLS Program provides opportunities for American college and university students to study languages and cultures essential to America’s engagement with the world.
Each summer, American undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities across the country, spend eight to ten weeks learning one of a dozen languages at an intensive study abroad institute. The CLS Program is designed to promote rapid language gains and essential intercultural fluency in regions that are critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity.
Designed to leverage best practices in online language learning, CLS Spark provides students with the opportunity to study critical languages virtually when they may not have access to studying these languages on their campuses.
The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by American Councils for International Education.
