Funding

FLAS fellowships are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the UW’s National Resource Centers to assist students in acquiring foreign language and either area or international studies competencies. FLAS awards are only available for specific languages and are contingent on federal funding.

Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Applications by students in professional fields are encouraged. Preference will be given to applicants with a high level of academic ability and with previous language training. Academic year and summer FLAS awards are two separate competitions requiring separate and complete applications.

MEDLI students may be eligible to apply for Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for summer language study. See flas.wisc.edu for details and contact the coordinator of the specific Area Studies Center that offers your language. Note that many centers require a specific regional focus. Students are also encouraged to apply for scholarships at their home institution or inquire about applying their financial aid package toward summer language studies.

https://flas.wisc.edu/languages.htm

Summer awards are for intensive language programs either domestically or abroad. Details on minimum contact hours and duration of allowable summer programs are outlined on the FLAS FAQ page. Summer FLAS awards may be used for study at UW-Madison by non-UW students.

Through the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Adult Career and Special Student Services, scholarships are available for admitted UW–Madison nontraditional and returning adult students. Thank you to the generous contributions from our donors.

Application opens: November 16; Closes: February 10

To apply for these scholarships, please complete the following steps:

1) Access the scholarship application through Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH). Using the filter, select Division of Continuing Studies scholarships, then sign in to complete the application. Submit just one common scholarship application for all of the scholarships that you are interested in applying for.

2) Submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Please review these tips to help you complete your scholarship application.

The Madison Gateway Scholarship application is open to any currently enrolled Madison Area Technical College (MATC) student applying to the Middle Eastern & Mediterranean Language Institute (MEDLI, formerly APTLI). The scholarship covers full MEDLI tuition to study Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish language at any level.

The Madison Gateway Scholarship was created with the goal of increasing Less Commonly Taught Language (LCTL) learning for people of underserved populations and create a pathway for success for MATC language students to attend MEDLI.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be Madison Area Technical College students

Scholarship app requirements: Madison Gateway Scholarship applicants must submit the following materials to medli@lpo.wisc.edu. 

• 1 Letter of Recommendation

• Statement of Purpose: Applicants should demonstrate need for the language and their academic, professional, and/or personal reason(s) for studying it. (approx. 500 words)
• Deadline to Apply: March 15, 2023

If someone will be sponsoring you to attend MEDLI (i.e. paying your tuition), please review the following procedures:

In order to create a third party payment, the UW-Madison Bursar’s office needs a letter of authorization from the sponsoring organization. You will need to have your sponsor send the following information on department or university letterhead:

• Your Name
• Your University of Wisconsin-Madison Student ID number
• The Duration of Sponsorship
• Amount to be invoiced
• Your Sponsor’s Contact Name and Address
• How payment will be made (Check or wire transfer)
• *Special Invoice Instructions (Where and who the invoice must be addressed to)

The letter of authorization should be forwarded immediately to thirdparty@bussvc.wisc.edu. If the sponsor’s letter of authorization is received before the tuition and fee bill is generated, the amount of charges deferred to a third party sponsor is indicated on the bill.

*If possible, please have your sponsor copy MEDLI at medli@lpo.wisc.edu when sending the letter.

Once your sponsor has completed these steps, you can log on to your MyUW account (opens in new tab) and select the Financial tab to view your Tuition and Fee Student Account activity; you should be able to determine that your charges have been deferred to a third party sponsor for payment. Please allow a minimum of 5 business days for processing.

If the sponsor is not paying the entire tuition and fee cost, you must pay the remaining balance before the tuition due date in order to avoid a late payment fee.

PLEASE NOTE: If the sponsor’s authorization is not received prior to the tuition due date, you will be held responsible for payment of the late payment fee.

Once the authorization letter has been received a third party deferral is applied to the student’s account. The third party invoice will be issued by approximately mid-July for the Summer semester. The sponsor needs to notify the University in writing should a student be removed from sponsorship.

If you have any additional questions, please contact MEDLI via email at medli@lpo.wisc.edu.

Project GO (Global Officer) is an initiative of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office which is administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). Project GO provides fully funded scholarships to students commissioning through Air Force, Army, and Naval ROTC to study critical languages domestically and abroad. ROTC students (from UW-Madison or other campuses nationwide) are eligible to apply for Project GO @ UW-Madison full funding to study Turkish at MEDLI.

Applications for Project GO Summer 2023 open October 3rd, 2022. The deadline to apply for PGO’s domestic programs is March 8, 2023.

The Turkish Flagship Language Initiative (TURFLI) is a special initiative of the Boren Awards for International Study offering awardees the opportunity for intensive language study of Turkish and for cultural immersion by participating in domestic and overseas language programs. Participants in TURFLI may start with no language proficiency through advanced proficiency in Turkish. The TURFLI program is administered through the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Applications for TURFLI 2023 have closed. 

Industry Arabic is a translation company that focuses on providing services focusing on the Arabic language. They award scholarships of $2,000 to support tuition and living expenses for 1-2 students pursuing advanced, immersive Arabic study. They are looking to support the next generation of superior Arabic linguists regardless of field (linguistics, area studies, literature, anthropology, political science, etc).

Eligibility:

• Limited to U.S citizens
• Students enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program that incorporates advanced Arabic language skills. A major/concentration in Arabic in not necessary.

Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of practical skill as demonstrated in the sample translation, as well as overall academic merit.

Click here to learn more and/or apply.

The Houtan Scholarship awards one student $3500 towards a graduate school education for the selected applicant. The candidates for the award must demonstrate leadership ability and the desire to make a difference in the society where they reside. The Houtan Foundation has a strong interest in each of these students’ achievements throughout the scholarship period and beyond, as the foundation’s goal is to participate in each student’s success.

Eligibility:

• Do you write, speak and read Parsi, at least at intermediate level?
• Can you demonstrate your active interest in the promotion of Persian Culture through formal documents?
• Are you attending a graduate school or have you received an admission to a graduate school?
• Have you been considered a distinguish student throughout your academic career?

If you answered yes all of these questions, you are eligible!

Click here to learn more and/or apply.

We would like to provide students with the tools they need to succeed. Below is a list of relevant databases that students can search on an individual basis in order to find funding opportunities that would best fit their situation. 

• COS Pivot: Offers several databases for approximately 25,000 private and federal funding sources. Grants in the non-science areas are included. (Note: You must set up a personal login account using your wisc.edu email – free to UW-Madison clientele – through the COS Workbench feature for some of the COS Pivot services, however, a login is not necessary to use the database.)

Funding resources for students of different educational standing:

• Undergraduate study, and undergraduate study at UW-Madison.
• Graduate study.
• International students.
• Resources for those who are not currently enrolled in a degree-seeking program.