FLAS fellowships are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the UW’s National Resource Centers to assist students in acquiring foreign language as well as either area or international studies competencies. Moreover, FLAS awards are only available for specific languages, and are contingent on federal funding.

Additionally, summer Fellowships are for intensive language programs either domestically or abroad and require a separate application from the Academic Year Fellowship. In some cases, Summer FLAS awards may be used for study on other campuses or for study at UW-Madison by non-UW students.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
• Also, applications by students in professional fields are encouraged.
• Preference will be given to applicants with a high level of academic ability as well as with previous language training.
• Graduate and undergraduate students who are US citizens or nationals or permanent residents and who are enrolled in a degree program that combines modern foreign language training with international or area studies or with the international aspects of professional or other fields of study.

Selection Process

• Each center has a review and selection committee that will evaluate and rank applicants.
• In addition, undergraduate and graduate applications are ranked separately and are not in competition with each other.
• Each center’s review committee comprises scholars adept at reading across disciplines.
• At the same time, do not try to impress the committee with arcane vocabulary or references. The best statements are clear and written in plain English, show seriousness and purpose, and are true to the challenges in field of study as well as to current stage of training.
• Also, the evaluation committee understands that beginning graduate students may have rudimentary plans, while more advanced students will be able to lay out plans for major research projects in some detail.
• Likewise, the evaluation committee understands that essays from applicants in professional schools or other non-thesis degree programs will be quite different from essays written by students planning theses or dissertations, which in turn will be quite different from those of undergraduate students. Therefore, respond to all questions to address specific situation.