NSLI-Y Info

NSLI-Y's Website: http://www.nsliforyouth.org/

NSLI-Y: National Security Language Initiative for Youth.

NSLI-Y is funded by the U.S. Department of State. It offers merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students and graduates to learn critical languages through an immersion program.
There are 13 critical languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian,Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish and Urdu. You do not need to have prior knowledge of the language to apply for the programs.

NSLI-Y has programs for 7/13 of these languages in 10 different countries:
Arabic: Jordan, Morocco, Oman
Chinese: China, Taiwan
Hindi: India
Korean: South Korea
Persian: Tajikistan
Russian: Russia
Turkish: Turkey

★Summer and year scholarships are offered for all of the languages except Persian (only summer duration).

Eligibility:

★Must be a U.S. citizen
★GPA of at least a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale
★15-18 years of age at start of program
★Enrolled in high school

The Application:

The application is typically released during September, and then it is due in early November. The application is done online. It asks for you for your basic information, activities/hobbies/interests, a teacher recommendation, a parent statement/recommendation, and some essays. Two of the essays are written in response to a prompt they give you (both are limited to 500 words). You also write and explanation of your top three program choices and write an introduction letter to your host family. The sooner you finish the application, the better. The closer it gets to the deadline, the more likely the servers are to crash!

Semi-finalists:

Everyone receives a notification email with their application status. You are notified if you have been selected as a semi-finalist or if you have not been selected. Everyone who applied will get their notification before December is over. Notifications are not sent all at once; they are sent on a rolling basis throughout the month of December. Those who are selected as semi-finalists will be contacted about submitting a medical evaluation and getting an interview. Semi-finalist must get a TB test done, fill out a medical evaluation, and have the evaluation signed by their doctor. The interviews can be done in several different ways, but it depends on the the area that the semi-finalist is located at. Interviews may be done in person, at the semi-finalist's home, though a phone, or through Skype. The semi-finalists interviews take place throughout most of January. Click here for more about the interview.

★Semi-finalists should already have a passport or a apply for one as soon as possible if they do not have one once they receive their semi-finalist notification. Click here to read about my passport troubles.

Finalists:

Finalist notifications go out throughout March and April. Once again, everyone will receive a notification of their applicant status before the end of April. The notifications for summer programs will go out first, and then year notifications will be sent out. Do not try to predict when certain notifications will be sent out because NSLI-Y is known to be quite spontaneous. Just when you think you have it figured out, they change up their system! All of the finalists will have a week to accept the scholarship.
-Finalists must email a scan of the face page of their passport to accept, which is why getting a passport early on is important.


★I applied and was accepted for the Korean Summer program. In years past, Korean summers have only had one location: Seoul. However, this year, NSLI-Y is doing a new program implemented by American Councils that will be in Jeonju (it is a bit more rural than Seoul). There are about 15 students doing the Jeonju progam. The implementing organization for the program I am doing is iEARN (International Education and Resource Network). There are about 49 other students from across the nation that will be joining me in Seoul.