National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)

The US Department of State through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in summer, semester, and academic year international immersion programs. NSLI-Y encourages beginning, intermediate, and advanced language learners with a passion for learning languages, communicating across cultures, and living abroad to apply.

National Security Language Initiative

NSLI -Y is part of a broader government-wide presidential initiative that prepares American citizens to be leaders in a global world. Now more than ever, it is important that Americans have the necessary linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to promote international dialogues, support American engagement abroad, and attain better understanding of global cultures and issues. NSLI encourages a lifetime of language study and cultural understanding by supporting K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and professional language programs for languages that have traditionally not been taught in the United States.

NSLI-Y Programs offer:

• Scholarships to learn Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish
• Unique language immersion programs in China, Egypt, India, Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and other countries around the world
• Alumni networks to continue language and cultural learning
• Springboards to other government sponsored programs to achieve language fluency

NSLI-Y Participants will:

• Begin a lifetime of learning and working with global peoples and cultures
• Participate in language classes, cultural immersion, and community service projects
• Interact with host country friends, families, and communities, in person and through online technologies
• Gain a deeper understanding of their responsibility in an interconnected world
• Continue language study and share cultural awareness and understanding when they return home
• Promote international dialogues and the study of international languages in their home community

Read more about the NSLI-Y program on the U.S. Department of State's website at: http://exchanges.state.gov/youth/programs/nsli.html.

In 2010-2011 NSLI-Y scholarship winners traveled to China, Egypt, India, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Russia, Taiwan, Tajikistan and Turkey.  Applications for the 2011-2012 will be released on the Apply Now section sometime this fall; please stay tuned.