• Applicants must be US Citizens, non-citizen nationals, or permanent residents.
• Students must be enrolled at Michigan State University during the award period.
• Undergraduate students must be at the intermediate- or advanced-level of language study by the time the fellowship begins.
• Graduate students must be at the intermediate- or advanced-level of language study by the time the fellowship begins; or they may also qualify for first-year language study if they already have advanced proficiency in another Latin American language, including Spanish.

Summer FLAS Programs:

• Summer fellowships are for intensive language learning only. 
• Summer programs must be equivalent to one full year of language study as provided during the regular academic year.
• For the intermediate- or beginning-level, the session must be at least 6 weeks and offer at least 140 contact hours of formal instruction.
• For the advanced level, the session must be at least 6 weeks and offer at least 120 contact hours of formal instruction.
• Summer language programs must be offered by an accredited or recognized educational institution and be approved by the CLACS FLAS Coordinator.

Academic Year Programs - LCTL:

• Propose a course of study that includes both language training and coursework related to Latin America.
• Enroll in at least one Latin American studies course during the semester(s) awarded.
• Enroll in an intermediate- level or advanced-language course for the semester(s) awarded.

Academic Year Programs - Dissertation Writing:

• Be actively engaged in preparing dissertation chapters on research focused on Latin America during the semester(s) awarded.
• Enroll in at least one credit during the semester(s) awarded.

Summer fellowships are for intensive language study programs (in the US or abroad).

Summer language programs must:

• Be equivalent to one full year of language study.
• Take place over a minimum of 6 weeks.
• Provide a minimum of 140 contact hours at the intermediate levels.
• Provide a minimum of 120 contact hours at the advanced levels.

Field trips do not count toward contact hours.

Students must apply separately to the program they wish to attend. The FLAS application is an application for funding and is not an application to the actual summer language program itself.

Summer fellows are not required to enroll in non-language, Latin American area studies courses.

Important Dates for Summer 2026 FLAS:

• February 1, 2026 - FLAS application is due.

Award Period

Fellowships are only awarded for the period stated in the award letter. Fellows may apply for both summer and academic year with the same application. Renewals are not automatic. Fellows are eligible to reapply for subsequent years.

Enrollment Information

Upon receiving awards, fellows must submit a list of proposed courses in which they will enroll for the semester. The fellowship pays for the approved credits for which the fellow registers prior to the university-established semester drop/add deadlines. 

When awards are made at the beginning of the academic year, funds are allocated based upon the student's course load as stated in the FLAS application. All changes must be approved by the CLACS FLAS coordinator. 

If fellows experience a change in status, such as the loss of in-state status, and fellows require additional funds, such funds may not be available from the FLAS fellowship.

Financial Aid and Award Amounts

Tuition and fee payments are limited to actual costs.

Some awards, scholarships or fellowships cannot be held concurrently with a FLAS, and there may be limits to the total amount of funding fellows may receive. 

FLAS stipends may also be reduced if the student receives other federal stipend funding. Contact the CLACS FLAS Coordinator if you have questions.

Fellowship recipients may have a concurrent graduate assistantship if the fellow's home department allows.

Important Dates

• November 1, 2025 - FLAS application is due.
• December 8, 2025 - Students will be notified of award for Spring 2026.
• December 17, 2025 - Students must confirm acceptance of award for Spring 2026.
• January 12, 2026 - FLAS fellows must attend required FLAS orientation, 7pm
• May 15, 2026 - Student fellowship reports deadline.

Grades & Credits

Fellows must receive grades and credits for their FLAS coursework. 

Evaluations

To evaluate the development of proficiency, each fellow will complete pre- and post- program language evaluations.

The U.S. Department of Education requires the evaluations be completed by the same instructor.

Coursework

For Academic Year fellowships, independent study or a directed readings course may be used to fulfill the FLAS area studies or language course requirements. This must be approved by the CLACS FLAS Coordinator prior to the course start date. Contact the CLACS FLAS Coordinator in advance of making arrangements.

Distance education courses which are synchronous and meet other requirements may be used to fulfill FLAS requirements based on approval from the CLACS FLAS Coordinator. At MSU, the distance education format accepted is through BTAA CourseShare. 

Reporting

The U.S. Department of Education requires evaluation of language competency by a qualified language instructor. 

There are also mandatory federal reporting requirements that must be fulfilled by awardees. 

The award terms and conditions document will provide more details regarding requirements upon receiving offer. 

Important Dates:

Summer 2026 FLAS Fellowships:

• February 1, 2026 - FLAS application is due.

Academic Year Fellowships, Spring 2026:

• November 1, 2025 - FLAS application is due.
• December 8, 2025 - Students will be notified of award for Spring 2026.
• December 17, 2025 - Students must confirm acceptance of award for Spring 2026.
• January 12, 2026 - FLAS fellows must attend required FLAS orientation, 7pm
• May 15, 2026 - Student fellowship reports deadline.

CLACS FLAS Application Checklist

I. Two Letters of Recommendation: one from a faculty member, one from your language instructor

A. Identify and request a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. Send this link to the faculty reference letter form to your faculty referee to complete. You are responsible for contacting the faculty member and requesting that they complete the reference form. This system DOES NOT automate a request for the recommendation. Faculty should upload the letter by the deadline. 

Provide the following to your faculty referee:

• The faculty reference letter form
• The type(s) of FLAS for which you are applying.
• Proposed language, course title and level.
• Draft of your statement of purpose essay.
• Resume/CV.

B. Identify and request a language letter of recommendation from your language instructor. Provide the following link to the language instructor reference letter form to the instructor to complete the language evaluation. Faculty should complete the letter of recommendation by the application deadline. The FLAS applicant must contact the instructor and provide them with the recommendation letter link as the system DOES NOT automatically generate it. 

Provide the following to your language instructor:

• The language instructor reference letter form
• The type(s) of FLAS for which you are applying.
• Proposed language, course title and level.
• Detailed intensive language program information (summer applicants only).
• Draft of your statement of purpose essay.
• Resume/CV

If you are a graduate student and do not have a language instructor, you should submit a letter of recommendation from a second faculty member or advisor.

II. Provide demonstrated need information in the FLAS application form. 

III. Submit completed online FLAS application form.

This is a pdf version of the application form to preview what information will be required. It is lengthy, so it is recommended that students review the requirement in advance. The deadline is February 1, 2026 for all Summer 2026 application materials. 

In the application form, upload:

1. Transcripts from all higher education institutions attended, including both undergraduate and graduate, if applicable. For MSU transcripts, use this Transcript Request link to request an electronic version be emailed to clacs(at)msu.edu. Transcripts from other higher education institutions may also be sent to the clacs(at)msu.edu address through those institutions' online systems. Allow enough time for the transcript to arrive by the application deadline.
2. Resume or CV.
3. The statement of purpose essay that addresses the following:

Previous language training

• Discuss each language you have studied at the undergraduate and graduate level.
• Include the number of years of instruction and the school attended.
• If the language was gained in other ways, such as through overseas experience, explain where, when and indicate your current proficiency.

Research & Coursework

• Training to date in Latin American/Caribbean studies
• Primary research interests
• Themes in your coursework and/or thesis or dissertation projects if applicable.

Academic & Career Goals

• Describe how the language and area studies training received during the period of a FLAS fellowship would help prepare you to achieve your academic and career goals.

Applicants should share this information with the language instructor.

MSU Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Language Instructor Letter of Recommendation must be completed on the language instructor reference form.

Language Referee Instructions

The primary goals of the FLAS fellowship program are to:

• Foster foreign language acquisition and fluency
• Produce a uniquely qualified cadre of modern foreign language experts whose knowledge significantly influences business, government and higher education communities.

A language letter of recommendation is required from your language instructor if you have taken a formal Latin American less commonly taught language course within the last two academic years; otherwise, an evaluation of your language training is not necessary. Graduate students seeking first-year language study approval must also provide a language evaluation for the Latin American language in which they have advanced proficiency. The applicant must contact the language evaluator directly. This system DOES NOT automate a request for the evaluation.

If you are an incoming MSU student or beginning-level graduate student and do not have an MSU language instructor, you may provide a second letter of recommendation from an additional faculty member or advisor.

Make sure your language instructor has this link to the language instructor reference form.

Deadline: February 1, 2026.

Applicants should share this information with the faculty member providing the letter of recommendation. 

The faculty member from an academic department should not be the less commonly taught language (LCTL) instructor.

Referee Instructions

The primary goals of the FLAS fellowship program are to:

• Foster foreign language acquisition and fluency
• Produce a uniquely qualified cadre of modern foreign language experts whose knowledge significantly influences business, government and higher education communities.
• The letter of recommendation should be 1-2 pages in length and written by a faculty member or student's faculty advisor.

Guidelines - the referee should describe the applicant's:

• Academic performance
• Interest in foreign languages and Latin American Studies
• How FLAS will contribute to the student's current program of study and future career goals.

Faculty should upload the recommendation letter using this faculty reference letter form.

Student applicants who do not have a language instructor should submit two faculty/advisor letters of recommendation.

Deadline: Letters need to be received by February 1, 2026.