Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships are provided by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program. The program is intended to broaden the nation’s pool of area and international specialists. Applicants should plan to use their training to teach, to serve in government or international agencies, or to engage in other work that advances American understanding of other countries.
The Academic Year FLAS program supports UCLA graduate and undergraduate training in Latin American Studies and modern languages of the region, specifically: Nahuatl, Portuguese, Kichwa, and Advanced Spanish. Graduate and undergraduate students who are studying the languages at intermediate level or higher are eligible. Beginning level of a language may be undertaken by graduate students only if the student already is at advanced level in a second Latin American language (usually Spanish). Undergraduates already enrolled at UCLA and who will be in student status for the duration of the fellowship, may apply for intermediate and advanced levels of language study only. Applications for Spanish will only be accepted from students planning to study at the advanced level. Past awardees may reapply. FLAS awards may be held concurrently with other UCLA funding (up to UCLA financial aid limits), but not with other federal funding.
FLAS fellows must enroll in one language course and one area studies course (defined as a course with content related to Latin America) during each quarter of the academic year.
Selection for the award is based on the following criteria:
- Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
- Academic performance and potential as evidenced by academic transcript, letters of recommendation, and statement of purpose.
- The extent to which overall course of study focuses on Latin America.
- The level of planned language study. Intermediate and advanced levels are preferred.
- Financial need as demonstrated by the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) on the FAFSA
Award Amount
Graduate Students
Up to $18,000 in tuition and fees
$20,000 living stipend
Undergraduate Students
Up to $10,000 in tuition and fees
$5,000 living stipend
Competition Opens: November 18, 2024
Application Deadline: January 31, 2025
Required Application Materials
- Completed application form
- Statement of purpose detailing how you plan to use the language in your degree program and career (1-2 pages)
- UCLA transcript (graduate students in their first year at UCLA may submit transcripts from last school attended)
- 2 letters of recommendation (Note that requests for letters of recommendation will only go out once the application is submitted, so please plan to have your materials ready a couple of weeks in advance of the deadline, to give your letter writers time to submit.)
More Information
For more information, see this FAQ. If your question is not answered there, please contact Bryan Pitts at bpitts@international.ucla.edu.