Through funding from the United States Department of Education, the Center for African Studies offers Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships, providing tuition and stipend support for Harvard University graduate students interested in intensive for-credit study of an African language.
Academic year FLAS fellowships for 2024-2025 cover up to $18,000 toward actual tuition and fees, plus a fixed annual living stipend of $20,000 paid out in monthly installments of $2,000 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 with their school’s financial aid office if additional funds to cover the remaining balance of 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.
List of approved FLAS languages for the Harvard Center for African Studies:
Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Arabic-Sudanese, Arabic-Egyptian, Bamanankan, Chichewa, Dinka, Fulani, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Igbo, Kinyarwanda, KiKongo, Krio, Lingala, Malagasy, Setswana, Somali, Swahili, Tigrinya, Wolof, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu
Notification:
Finalists for FLAS Fellowships will be notified in early March. All FLAS Fellowship nominations are subject to reauthorization of funding by the US Congress and approval by the US Department of Education.
*Please note the following:
- The Harvard Center for African Studies does not provide tuition and fees support beyond the $18,000 awarded by FLAS fellowships. Applicants should be in contact with their school’s financial aid office to determine if additional funds are available to support any remaining balance in tuition.
- Current and prospective students from all Harvard graduate schools may apply for FLAS as long as they meet the eligibility requirements noted below. All applicants should also be in contact with their school’s academic program coordinator to confirm that they are able to take both a language and area studies course in addition to their program’s required courses before applying.
Eligibility:
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Applicant must be a US citizen, US national, or US permanent resident
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Enrolled full-time in a graduate degree program in one of the Harvard graduate schools. All non-GSAS applicants must notify their school’s Financial Aid Office that they intend to apply for a FLAS Fellowship.
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Applicants agree to be enrolled in one graded FLAS-approved language and one graded area studies course per term; or be engaged in overseas dissertation research in the international aspects of professional (or other) fields of study.
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For use of fellowship overseas: applicant must agree to be enrolled in an advanced language program overseas approved by the Department of Education; or pursue overseas PhD dissertation research, provided there is affiliation with an overseas institution of higher education or appropriate organization in the host country. Students must submit the following information along with the application: name of institution where the student will be conducting research, the name of a contact at that institution, and the dates of travel.
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Applicant may not receive concurrent federal support from other sources, except student loans and work/study.
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Fellows must obtain approval from the FLAS Coordinator for any TF or other work opportunities before accepting them, to ensure compliance with federal regulations and continuation of their grant. Employment may not exceed the value of one-fifth of teaching per term.
For a full list of requirements, please read through the Academic Year FLAS Fact Sheet.
Application:
The application for the 2024-2025 Academic Year opens November 1st. Application deadline: February 15, 2024 at 11:59pm.
Please review the instructions below and above and apply via the CARAT online application.
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Award recipients must complete pre- and post-program self-assessments
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Award recipients must undergo pre- and post-program evaluation by a language instructor
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Complete CARAT application form, including the Academic Year Supplemental Application
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Current resume/CV
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Two letters of recommendation (one from a language instructor and one from an area studies instructor). Letters of recommendation should also be submitted through CARAT by the grant deadline. (Recommenders outside Harvard University may e-mail or mail recommendations directly to the Center for African Studies Student Support & Outreach Officer Lindsay Moats at lmoats@fas.harvard.edu or 1280 Massachusetts Ave., 3rd Floor, Cambridge, MA.)
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Current unofficial transcript
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A statement of purpose. Statement must include how the program will influence the work in your concentration, your research, and/or your future professional study/career aspirations. Please include the names of published articles and titles of research papers where applicable. Note: The recommended length for the statement of purpose is one page, double-spaced.
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Additional requirement for Overseas Dissertation Research applicants ONLY: Applicants must have a project description signed by their academic advisor, and should include the dates of travel abroad, the overseas institution where they will be affiliated, and a contact person at that institution. Please note the Overseas Dissertation FLAS is a research grant, not a writing grant. Where applicable, students should ensure their project has been approved by The Harvard University Committee on the Use of Human Subjects.