Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowships

Center for Latin American Studies annually awards Title VI (U.S. Department of Education) Foreign Language and Area Studies Academic Year Fellowships in Portuguese and to students at the University of Arizona in any program/department who are pursuing Latin American language and area studies.

Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships are offered for approved programs of intensive language study either in the U.S. or the Latin America for Portuguese or Indigenous Languages. 

Current University of Arizona students and incoming UA students must apply through the Qualtrics surveys on UA Latin American Studies 2023 FLAS Application. 

If you are in the process of becoming a UA student please email Center for Latin American Studies if you have questions. 

As stated above, only University of Arizona students who:

• are U.S. citizens, nationals or permanent resident aliens.
• have a GPA of at least 3.0.
• have completed the equivalent of at least one year of a Latin America language, or two years of any other language and received grades of ‘B’ or higher.
• for summer awards students must be returning to the UA campus for classes the semester following their summer abroad.  

Note: An applicant is ineligible for a FLAS award if they receive a grade lower than a B in the target language during the year of study prior to their FLAS fellowship.

Portuguese is the only language eligible for Academic Year FLAS awards. 

Summer FLAS languages included Portuguese and many Indigenous languages from Latin America, but they must be approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Please contact the Center for Latin American Studies Assistant Director about other language possibilities at least one month prior to the application deadline.

Graduates are welcome to apply for any level of language study. U.S. Department of Education regulations do not allow undergraduates to apply for beginning-level language studies.

Priority is given to students with advanced language standing. For Graduate Summer FLAS awards, a beginning level language may only be taken overseas if that course is not offered in any U.S. intensive summer program that year.

On rare occasions this is possible, but it is not a U.S. Department of Education priority.

The student must be at the advanced level of proficiency and a clear case must be made that the fellow will advance in their language proficiency to the degree that would have taken a full academic year’s worth of formal language instruction. The U.S. Department of Education recommends that doctoral students wishing to conduct research overseas apply for the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship instead.

Normally only one during a single degree program.

Yes. Be sure to submit required forms both programs.

No, you must be enrolled in and maintain eligibility for both semesters.

FLAS applications are usually due in mid-February. Please check back to this page regularly for deadline details.

No. Applications must be submitted through the Qualtrics survey system by the due date.

As part of the online application, the following documents are required:

• Statement of Purpose (maximum of 500 words). If you are applying for both Academic Year and Summer programs, you need to submit a separate statement for each.
• Transcripts (unofficial copies). New students with less than two semesters of UA graduate work should provide current UA transcripts and past transcripts from either previous graduate or undergraduate study.
• CV/résumé (3 pages maximum).
• Two letters of recommendation (with at least one from a language instructor).  See below for specifics needed in the letter of recommendation. You must request CRLs (Confidential Recommendation Letters) and have them sent directly to SBS-las@email.arizona.edu. Please remember your recommendations must be received by the application deadline.

NOTE: Applicants must have a current FAFSA on file at the University of Arizona.

The statement of purpose is the most critical component of your application packet. It should include what language you propose to study, what level and year of courses will be taken. You must clearly show how the language relates to your continued academic program of study and future career goals. If you are applying for a Summer FLAS, you should explain your choice of proposed summer program and how is the location relevant to your language choice?

The statement of purpose should be a maximum of 500 words.

No. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable. 

You must request Confidential Recommendation Letters (CRLs) be emailed to SBS-las@email.arizona.edu with a submission deadline no later than the application deadline.

No. Please request the individuals writing your letters to send them via emailed to SBS-las@email.arizona.edu with a submission deadline no later than the application deadline.

Your recommendation letters should come from faculty members if possible, or from employers if not. One letter must be written by a language instructor. If you are currently in a course for the language you wish a FLAS award to support, that instructor should write a letter.

Ask your letter writers for their frank assessment of the your academic abilities, especially as they relate to the pursuit of Latin American languages and area studies. They should indicate how well, how long, and in what context they have known you. Language instructors should focus on your ability to succeed in the target language and the necessity of that language in your academic study. This is particularly important for summer intensive language programs.

A letter written for a Teaching Assistantship or similar positions may not address these issues, so you should carefully consider using a letter written for that purpose.

Yes. Application for a FLAS fellowship is separate and wholly removed from the university application process.

Yes. You will need to select and complete each application separately on Scholarship Universe.

Yes.

No, you have to submit a new application.

Center for Latin American Studies core and affiliated faculty members review each application and then meet to choose recipients.

The FLAS application committee will meet to decide on the applications about two weeks after the deadline. You will be notified by the FLAS coordinator by email as soon as possible after the committee has made their decisions.

Committee members are asked not to release any information until after the official letters have been sent out.  If you are selected as a FLAS fellow, you will be asked to sign a letter of agreement.

FLAS recipients are generally asked to notify the Center for Latin American Studies of their decision to accept or decline their FLAS awards by the middle of April.

For academic year FLAS awards, we should know the final list of applicants once the departments have notified their incoming students of the status of their applications. After this date, any awards that have been declined would go to the alternates on the list in the order in which they are ranked.

Summer FLAS recipients are also asked to accept or decline their awards by early April. However, the final number of FLAS awards given for the summer also depends upon the programs that students attend. It is possible that an additional FLAS (or more) may be feasible if many students attend programs that are cheaper than the maximum allowable for FLAS tuition. Once payment has been made for all Summer FLAS recipients, Center for Latin American Studies will know how much money remains and whether students on the alternate list can be funded.

• You must maintain full-time status during the award period. 12 units for Undergraduate students, 9 units for Graduate students. First and second year language study credits do not count towards graduate credits.
• Each semester, you must be enrolled in a Latin America area studies course in addition to language classes for the award language. The Latin America area studies course may not be an independent study, or any courses for thesis/dissertation/composition credits. You may not take a second language towards the area studies requirement. It must be a taught course with at least 50% Latin America content.
• For the award language, there must be a minimum of three units in the language course and level for which the student was awarded the FLAS.
• If you have completed a summer program that has put you at a more advanced level than the one for which the FLAS awarded, you must enroll in the next level of the award language.
• Courses must be taken for credit if they are available that way (Pass/Fail and Auditing are not admissible).
• All fellows must complete language courses at a grade of ‘B’ or higher and complete federal reporting requirements. If your FLAS award letter states any additional requirements (i.e., additional languages to be studied, degrees to have been completed, etc.) these must also be met in order for you to maintain your FLAS eligibility.

Not usually. Academic Year FLAS awards go to students to study at the University of Arizona. FLAS travel money is never available for Academic Year awards.

Yes, but only under certain conditions:

• Work up to 10-12 hours per week (excluding Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant positions) is acceptable and does not need Center for Latin American Studies Board approval.
• More than 10-12 hours, requires Center for Latin American Studies Board approval and the work must be related to your program of study.
• More than 15 hours per week of work is not permissible under any circumstances.

Contact the FLAS coordinator for further guidance. FLAS fellows may not receive any other federal funding that duplicates any part of the FLAS award during the award period, nor may a fellow accept a Teaching Assistantship or a Research Assistant position during the award period. Work during winter break is not regulated by FLAS.

A summer FLAS fellow must be enrolled in a for-credit, intensive language program that meets the following criteria:

• at least 6 weeks in duration
• a minimum of 140 contact hours for beginning or intermediate level,
• at least 120 contact hours for advanced students,
• is the equivalent to one full-year of instruction, and
• offers an official transcript.

Graduate student applicants: Summer FLAS fellowships are only awarded for beginning level courses at institutions overseas if the language is not offered in the U.S. in an intensive summer program.

Undergraduate applicants: U.S. Department of Education regulations do not allow undergraduates to apply for beginning-level language studies.

All recipients: Given the intensive nature of summer language programs (whether domestic or overseas) you may not work in any capacity. It is expected that you devote the entire award period to language acquisition on the approved program.

The grades received for courses during your FLAS-supported summer program should be filed with our FLAS Coordinator upon its completion. This is usually in the form of an official transcript from the institution you attended or your UA transcript, if grades transfer here. If the institution supplies grades in a different format, please contact the FLAS Coordinator to discuss this issue before applying to the program.

Courses must be taken for credit if they are available that way (Pass/Fail and Auditing are not admissible) and fellows must complete language courses at a grade of ‘B’ or higher and complete federal reporting requirements.

The U.S. Department of Education has mandated that FLAS fellows do pre-award and post-award language assessment tests to demonstrate the degree to which language skills have improved over the FLAS award period; these will be required of all FLAS fellows and will be arranged by the Center for Latin American Studies.

No. Your FLAS fellowship was awarded in part on the basis of the program of study that you described in your application and how that ties in with your language and career goals. You must attend the program in your award letter and you must complete the program in its entirety.

Demand is increasing and many programs fill up earlier each year. Programs may be canceled. There may be a sudden travel restriction forbidding you to attend your first choice of program. This is why you must apply early and why we ask you to choose three programs.

Center for Latin American Studies is awarded a certain amount from the U.S. Department of Education for Summer FLAS awards. If any of this money is not expended in FLAS tuition and stipends, it will be used to award travel money up to a maximum of $1,000 per fellow. If such funds exist, reimbursements will be made after fellows have returned from their language programs.

To be eligible, you must have traveled on you approved Fly-America itinerary and must supply the Center for Latin American Studies with your original receipts.

No. If you want to be eligible for a travel reimbursement, you must use an itinerary that complies with the “Fly America Act.”  This itinerary must be approved by the Department of Education. Find an itinerary that complies, send the information to our FLAS Coordinator with your program information, and wait for approval before purchasing your ticket.

Center for Latin American Studies then forwards your program request to the Department of Education for final approval. This may take up to 30 days.

All FLAS fellows are required to submit an electronic report with the U.S. Department of Education. Towards the end of your award period, you will be notified to submit your report by the Department of Education online recording system, IRIS. IRIS will give you a username, password, award number and instructions to access your online report.

Summer fellows are also required to submit a report to the Center for Latin American Studies detailing their summer experience abroad. If you are chosen as a fellow, we will send you details of the reporting requirements.

An administrative hold will be placed on your account which can inhibit obtaining transcripts, registering for classes and graduating until the reporting is done. In addition, you will not be eligible to receive future FLAS funding and may be required to repay the award amount. No summer travel reimbursements will be provided until the report is submitted. Lack of reporting reflects poorly on the Center for Latin American Studies and may affect our ability to secure future awards.

FLAS fellows who do not receive an ‘A’ or ‘B’ grade in their language course will forfeit additional funding and may be asked to repay previous support.