FLAS Academic Year Fellowship

FLAS Academic Year Fellowship

The FLAS Fellowship Program is predicated on the belief that "the well-being of the United States is dependent on the education and training of Americans in international and foreign language studies."

  • Eligibility Requirements
  • Languages Classified by Area
  • Financial Provisions
  • Employment
  • Applications

Related Information

FLAS Application for Incoming Graduate Students

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to apply for a FLAS fellowship, a student must meet the following criteria:

1. Be a citizen or eligible permanent resident of the United States, or be in the process of becoming a citizen or permanent resident of the United States (in the latter case, immigration documentation is required);

2. Be enrolled in a graduate degree program in one of the Harvard graduate schools. All non-GSAS applicants must notify their school's Financial Aid Office that they intend to apply for a FLAS Fellowship to ensure the schools participation.
3. Agree to be enrolled in one graded FLAS approved language and one graded area studies course per term; or be engaged in overseas dissertation research in the international aspects of professional (or other) fields of study.

4. For use of fellowship overseas: must agree to be enrolled in an advanced language program overseas approved by the Department of Education; or pursue overseas PhD dissertation research, provided there is affiliation with an overseas institution of higher education or appropriate organization in the host country. Students must submit the following information along with the application:
  • The name of the institution where the student will be conducting research;
  • The name of a contact at that institution
  • The dates of travel.

5. FLAS fellows must complete an electronic Student Performance Report at the end of the fellowship. Failure to submit this report precludes future participation in the program.

Languages Classified by Area

The following languages, classified by World Area, are approved by the US Department of Education for Harvard University to offer FLAS Fellowships:

Africa
Akan, Amharic, Bamanankak, Chichewa, Dinka, Hausa, Igbo, Kinyarwanda, Swahili, Wolof, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu

East Asia
Mandarin Chinese*, Japanese*, Korean, Tibetan, Vietnamese

East Europe
Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Yiddish

Middle East
Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish, Uzbek

* Applicant must have completed the equivalent of two years of college study in Mandarin Chinese or two years of college study in Japanese.

Financial Provisions

Academic year fellowships provide a tuition grant of up to $18,000, plus a $15,000 stipend to be dispersed monthly over a ten-month period. Remaining tuition and health fees, if any, must be covered by the students' school of enrollment within Harvard University (i.e. GSAS, GSE, Divinity School). All Non-GSAS applicants must notify their school's Financial Aid Office that they have applied for a FLAS.


Applicants who plan to study abroad are expected to apply for other appropriate sources of funding (Japan Foundation, ACCELS, etc.) for their World Area.

Employment

Employment during the fellowship period is very limited. FLAS recipients must obtain approval from the FLAS Coordinator for any TF or other work opportunities before accepting them, to ensure compliance with federal regulations and continuation of thier grant. Employment may not exceed the value of one-fifth of teaching per term.

Applications

A complete FLAS application consists of the following: fellowship application, letter(s) of recommendation, an official transcript, and a statement of purpose. Additionally, students applying for the dissertation research FLAS must have their project descriptions signed by their advisor, and should include the following information: the name of the institution, the name of a contact at the institution, and the dates of travel abroad.

Applicants must note on their FLAS application other fellowship programs to which they have applied and, if possible, the results of the applications. Please include this list at the end of the Statement of Purpose.

2 letters of recommendation are required of all applicants, one from a language and one from an area studies instructor.

For further information please contact:

FLAS Coordinator
Holyoke Center, 3rd Floor
1350 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-495-5396
Fax: 617-496-5333
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.