Through funding from the United States Department of Education, Harvard University offers Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships through the Center for African Studies and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. FLAS fellowships are available for academic year or for summer study. FLAS fellowships provide tuition and stipend support for Harvard University graduate students interested in intensive for-credit study of an approved language. A list of approved languages, requirements, and detailed application instructions including deadlines can be found at:
Academic Year FLAS
Academic year FLAS fellowships cover up to $18,000 toward actual tuition and fees, plus a fixed annual living stipend of $15,000 paid out in monthly installments of $1,500 from September through June. Applicants must contact their school’s financial aid office to inform them that they have applied for FLAS. Applicants may inquire if additional funds to cover remaining tuition may be available.
Academic year FLAS fellowships may be utilized domestically or overseas, for language and area studies. This fellowship may also be used for overseas dissertation research, provided the student is at the advanced level of language proficiency. Fellowships require affiliation with an academic institution or organization approved by the Department of Education. Eligible prospective Harvard graduate and professional school students should apply for FLAS fellowships when they apply for admission.
Summer FLAS
Summer FLAS fellowships support intensive for-credit study of Russian and other regional languages, either in the US or abroad, with grants of up to $5,000 towards tuition and a fixed living stipend of $2,500.
Applications for Academic Year or Summer FLAS
Continuing Harvard graduate and professional school students and applicants to Harvard graduate and professional programs who will be engaged in language and area studies at Harvard throughout the academic year are invited to apply for a FLAS fellowship using Harvard's online Centralized Application for Research and Travel (CARAT). If you are a current Harvard student, you will log in to CARAT with your HarvardKey. Prospective Harvard students should get a HarvardKey to access CARAT. Search for "FLAS" and select the world area that you would like to apply to—Africa or East Europe. There are separate applications for academic year and summer FLAS fellowships.
All FLAS applicants must meet the following eligibility and post-award requirements:
- Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents; applicants in the process of becoming a US citizen or permanent resident who can document this status are also eligible to apply.
- Applicants must be enrolled in a full-time program of study during the FLAS fellowship period, which combines modern language study with international or area studies, or research and training in international aspects of professional or other fields of study.
- FLAS fellows must undergo pre- and post-program evaluation by a language instructor.
- FLAS fellows must complete a periodic FLAS tracking survey upon request for up to eight years after the fellowship ends.