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FLAS@UNC

The application round for grants in Summer 2025 or Academic Year 2025-26 will open on November 15, 2024 (note the updated date for opening applications) with a deadline of January 31, 2025.

Contact Information

Africa

African Studies Center

Contact: Ada Umenwaliri

FLAS Advising:
By Appointment

Asia

Carolina Asia Center

Contact: Dr. Kevin Fogg

FLAS Advising:
By Appointment

East Europe / Russia / Central Asia

Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies

Contact: Adnan Džumhur

FLAS Advising:
By Appointment

Europe

Center for European Studies

Contact: Brett Harris

FLAS Advising:
By Appointment

Latin America & Caribbean

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Contact: Beatriz Riefkohl Muñiz
FLAS Advising:
By Appointment

Middle East

Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies

Contact: Micah Hughes
FLAS Advising:
By Appointment

FLAS Application Technical Assistance

Contact: Dr. Fogg

What is FLAS?

Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships support students taking less commonly taught language and area studies coursework. This program provides both academic year and summer fellowships to graduate  and undergraduate students at the intermediate level and above.

The goals of the program include:

  1. to assist in the development of knowledge, resources, and trained personnel for modern foreign language and area/international studies;
  2. to stimulate the attainment of foreign language acquisition and fluency; and
  3. to develop a pool of international experts to meet national needs.

FLAS Fellowships are possible because of grants provided from the U.S. Department of Education to the UNC area and global studies centers. Students must submit through the FLAS@UNC online application which is used by all Title VI FLAS granting Centers.

Please watch the video below, and read the information on this page and the application page. Then, reach out to your FLAS Coordinator for Center specific information.

 

Information Sessions

For the 2025 application deadline, the area studies centers will hold information sessions, hosted by FLAS administrators. Any students or prospective students with questions about the program or the application process should attend one of these sessions. All sessions will provide the same information.

The sessions are scheduled for:

Additionally, there will be a FLAS table at the UNC Study Abroad Fair, Wednesday, November 6, 11:00am to 2:00pm EST in the Carolina Union Pit.

Eligibility

All applicants must meet the following criteria, in addition to any specific requirements for the particular language of application.

  • Students must be a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization, or a permanent resident.
  • For Academic Year fellowships, graduate students must be enrolled in a program of graduate or professional study by the start of the Fellowship, but may apply in advance of admissions notification.
  • For Summer fellowships, you may be a prospective graduate student as long as you can demonstrate graduate or professional school admission during the upcoming Fall. You may apply in advance of admissions notification.
  • Graduate or professional school students must be at the intermediate or advanced level of study. If applying as a beginner, you must have advanced-level knowledge of another regionally-related language (for example, if applying as a beginner in Polish, you must have advanced knowledge of Russian, or any other Slavic language).
  • At the undergraduate level, only students at the intermediate or higher level in the less commonly taught language of application are eligible.
  • Students should be enrolled (or accepted to soon enroll) at UNC-Chapel Hill or one of our designated partner institutions in the state of North Carolina.

Types of Fellowships

Summer

Summer FLAS Fellowships provide a $3,500 stipend and up to $5,000 for tuition and fees for approved intensive summer language courses in the U.S. or abroad.  Consult with individual FLAS coordinators for travel costs in excess of the stipend.
FLAS students are permitted to receive additional funding from other sources to support their intensive language programs as long as they do not duplicate what is covered by the FLAS fellowships.
For example: If a student receives funding from other sources to cover 100% of tuition and fees, his or her FLAS fellowship will not cover tuition and fees but will provide a $3,500 stipend. If other funding sources cover only a portion of tuition and fees (e.g. half), FLAS can cover the remaining cost of tuition and fees up to $5,000 and a $3,500 stipend. Students are required to report any additional funds from other sources for their intensive language program to their FLAS Coordinators.

Stipend Tuition & Fee Support
Summer
Undergraduate & Graduate Students $3,500 up to $5,000

Academic Year

Academic year FLAS Fellowships provide a stipend plus support for tuition and fees. Fellows are required to take at least one language and one area studies course each semester.
The FLAS Fellowship will provide a $20,000 stipend to a graduate student plus full tuition and fees. If you are selected as a FLAS fellow, you are required to obtain a confirmation from your home/academic department stating that the department will cover any required difference between the FLAS stipend and your graduate school’s minimum allowance.
The FLAS Fellowship will provide a $5,000 stipend to an undergraduate student plus up to $10,000 in tuition and fees.
FLAS fellowships could affect financial aid packages. We recommend that if awarded you contact the Office of Student Financial Aid to determine the fellowship’s affect on your financial aid package.

Stipend Tuition & Fee Support
Academic Year
Graduate Students in the College of Arts and Sciences $20,000 full UNC tuition & fees
Graduate Students in UNC’s Professional Schools $20,000 UNC tuition & fees up to the cost of in-state tuition in the Graduate School of the College of Arts and Sciences
Undergraduate Students $5,000 up to $10,000

 

Eligible Languages

African Studies Center

Arabic (N. Africa career/research focus), Kiswahili, Wolof, Yoruba, and Other Sub-Saharan African languages

  • Funding for academic year study of other Sub-Saharan African languages is not available.

Carolina Asia Center

Arabic (career/research focus on South, East, or Southeast Asia), Chinese, Hindi-Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Persian (career/research focus on South, East, or Southeast Asia), Vietnamese, and other languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia, or East Asia

  • Funding for academic year study of other Asian languages is not available.
  • Funding for summer fellowships in other South, East, or Southeast Asian languages may be approved on a case-by-case basis

Center for European Studies

Arabic (European career/research focus), Basque*, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS), Czech, Dutch, Galician*, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish (European career/research focus), Ukrainian*

  • * Consult with FLAS Coordinator; funding for summer fellowships in other contemporary European language may be approved on a case by case basis

Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies

Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu

  • Academic Year awards: Graduate students only
  • Summer awards: Undergraduates and graduate students

Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS), Persian (Dari), Polish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian (Summer only)

  • Funding for summer fellowships in other East European and Eurasian languages may be approved on a case by case basis

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Haitian Creole, Kiche Maya, Portuguese (Brazilian), Yucatec Maya, Other Latin American languages

  • Non-UNC transcripts must be submitted as official hard copies
  • For Yucatec Maya: Applicants for level 3 must submit a 1-page proposal in Maya
  • Funding for academic year undergraduate study is not available.

Selection

FLAS committees review all proposals and rank them using a weighted scale that considers academic merit, demonstrated financial need, and the extent to which the proposed study or use of the language matches Title VI priorities.

 

Application Process & Application   Info Session PPT