The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale invites applications for Academic Year 2025 – 2026 fellowships for language study. All foreign languages are eligible for funding except for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Students interested in studying Chinese, Japanese, or Korean should apply to the Richard U. Light Fellowship Program.
This fellowship supports the study of languages or proficiency levels not currently offered at Yale. It is open to undergraduate, graduate and professional school students whose academic program or research plans requires the study of a foreign language. In the application, students are expected to demonstrate a bona fide academic need to study the language they have proposed and show a clear relationship to the applicant’s overall course of study. Priority will be given to students applying for intermediate and advanced level language study, though beginning level study will be considered for Ph.D. students with a research-related need for the language. Applicants interested in studying less-commonly taught languages will also be given priority.
The academic year language fellowship provides up to $18,000 toward non-Yale University tuition and fees and up to $20,000 for living expenses. If students apply for the semester of language study the award will be prorated accordingly.
Yale students may apply the award to recognized intensive programs at other universities within or outside the U.S. Rigorous online and distance education programs are also eligible for fellowship support. Language centers are eligible if the program qualifies. You may reach out to macmillan.fellowships@yale.edu with a specific program interested to confirm program eligibility.
This fellowship is highly competitive, and only one award is granted each academic year.