Graduate Academic Year Eligibility 

Applicant Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible to receive a FLAS Fellowship.

• Citizenship: Applicant must be a US citizen or US permanent resident at the time of application.

• Student Status: Applicants for the Graduate Academic Year FLAS must meet one of the following student status criteria at the time of application. The applicant is: 

  • • A student currently enrolled in a graduate or professional degree program at the master’s or doctoral level at the University of Michigan on the Ann Arbor campus. Students who are graduating in Winter 2024 or Summer 2024 are not eligible. Current UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint students are not eligible.

    • An applicant for admission to a graduate or professional degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor for the Fall 2023 term, except for students applying to the JD program at the law school (including dual degree students who plan to start with the JD program) or the master’s programs at the Ross School (including dual degree students who plan to start with the MBA program). First year law and business students are not eligible for FLAS because the core curriculum requirements of the first year law and business graduate programs make it impossible to meet FLAS course enrollment requirements.

• Language Proficiency: 

  • • Native speakers of the language are not eligible to apply for a fellowship in that language but may apply for a fellowship in another language provided that they meet all other eligibility criteria. 

    • Students who already possess language fluency at the level of an educated native speaker in the language for which a fellowship is sought are eligible but will be given lowest priority in the selection of fellowship recipients.

• Commitment to Area Studies: Applicants must demonstrate interest in and commitment to the study of the world region in which the language is spoken.  Study of the world region is broadly defined to include both academic and professional topics but must include subjects other than language and linguistics.

• Dissertation Research: FLAS Fellowships are rarely awarded for dissertation research. FLAS Fellowships may be awarded for in-country field research for the dissertation when a strong case can be made that such research results in extensive use of the language, equivalent to a full academic year of language study. Students requesting FLAS for in-country dissertation field research must already be at the advanced language level.  FLAS Fellows conducting in-country field research must be affiliated with an appropriate local host institution, such as a university or research institute. Prior approval must be secured from US/ED.

• Dissertation Writing: In very rare cases, FLAS Fellowships may be awarded for post-fieldwork dissertation writing when a strong case can be made that such research and writing results in extensive use of the language equivalent to a full academic year of language study. Applicants for dissertation writing must have a clearly defined timetable for completion and endorsement of this timetable from the dissertation committee chair. Priority will be given to students who will be able to complete the oral dissertation defense and receive their degree by the end of the fellowship year.

• Study Abroad: FLAS Fellowships may be awarded for coursework in an eligible study abroad program for one or both terms. To be eligible, the study abroad program must meet the following criteria: 

  • • Study abroad must be permitted by U-M, State Department, CDC, and US Department of Education. More information regarding travel with respect to COVID-19 will be announced as we receive it.

    • Program must be at the graduate level.

    • Program must award academic credit potentially transferable back to U-M.

    • Student must be able to meet all FLAS Fellowship requirements including full time registration, language requirement, area studies requirement, and the instructor proficiency evaluation requirement.

    • Program must offer language and area studies courses that are not normally available at the University of Michigan.

    • Program must offer proficiency-based language instruction by qualified instructors.

    • For language levels offered at the University of Michigan, the quality of instruction must be equivalent or better, and the language course(s) must reach the same level of proficiency or higher by the end of the program.

    • Study abroad requires prior approval from US/ED at least 30 days prior to departure. US/ED does not approve study abroad in locations under a US State Department Travel Warning.  As a general rule, study abroad in an English-speaking country or third party country (outside of the region in which the language of the fellowship award is normally spoken) requires a compelling academic and/or career justification for approval.