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Critical Language Enhancement Award

https://us.fulbrightonline.org/critical-language-enhancement-awards

Application period: March 31, 2022 to October 11, 2022
Initial internal deadline: August 30, 2022 (8:00 a.m. PT)
Internal interviews: September 6-16, 2022
Final internal deadline: October 7, 2022 (8:00 a.m. PT)
National deadline: October 11, 2022 (2:00 p.m. PT)

Eligibility requirements:
  • Fulbright Full Grant (or ETA, in some cases) in the eligible country selected 
  • Meet the minimum CLEA language requirement by the start of the Fulbright grant in the proposed country
  • Interest in continuing language training in future professional activities

Note: Ineligible if applicant has received a Critical Language Scholarship sponsored by the U.S. Department of State in the same program year

Award summary and conditions: The Critical Language Enhancement Award (CLEA) is a feature of the U.S. Student Fulbright Program, which provides an opportunity for some Fulbright U.S. Student grantees to receive three to six months of intensive language study as an enhancement to their Fulbright grants. It is offered to students once they have been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student grant which requires that they use one of the eligible languages for their Fulbright project and beyond. The purpose of the Critical Language Enhancement Award is to cultivate higher levels of language proficiency prior to and during the Fulbright grant period and beyond. Ultimately, Critical Language Enhancement grantees will achieve a high level of proficiency in a targeted language and will go on to careers or further study which will incorporate the use of the language studied and/or related languages.

Eligible languages:     

  • Arabic (all dialects)   
  • Bahasa Indonesia       
  • Bangla/Bengali       
  • Chinese (Mandarin only)       
  • Gujarati       
  • Hindi       
  • Marathi       
  • Punjabi       
  • Russian        
  • Urdu   

Eligible Countries:      

  • China     
  • Egypt     
  • India     
  • Indonesia       
  • Jordan      
  • Morocco      
  • Russia


Application process: online 

Application requirements: Application for a Critical Language Enhancement Award is made in conjunction with the Fulbright U.S. Student application and reference to the language award application should be included in the Statement of Grant Purpose.  The application is within the Fulbright U.S. Student application. The following forms must be completed in the Fulbright U.S. Student application to apply also for the Critical Language Enhancement Award:

  • Language Self Evaluation. If the applicant will be completing the pre-requisite language study after submission of the Fulbright application the proposed study must be detailed in Form 7.
  • Critical Language Enhancement Award Supplementary Statement.
  • Foreign Language Report. The foreign language evaluator should comment on the desirability and need for additional language training in their report.
  • (Optional) Applicants may wish to address how their Fulbright project would be enhanced by additional language study under the CLEA in the statement of grant purpose.

Applications should include: 

  • Connection to Research: In the statement of grant purpose, applicants must show a clear connection between additional language study and their Fulbright project. Any applicant whose project can be completed, without loss in quality, without language training, will not be considered a high priority.
  • Commitment to the Language: Applicants should demonstrate and detail their commitment to developing their language skills through current study, during their Fulbright grant tenure, and in their future career and/or educational plans in their supplemental Critical Language Enhancement Award statement.

Faculty representative: Director for Fellowships and Grants

Internal committee: Yes

Internal interview: Yes

Internal nomination required: No 

National committee interview: No

Announcement date: March - June

Fellowships and Grants
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