The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students and recent high school graduates to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. The languages offered are Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian, and Turkish.

iEARN-USA has been implementing the NSLI-Y program since 2009. With its focus on international collaboration and citizen diplomacy, the NSLI-Y program is a natural progression of iEARN’s core work. The NSLI-Y program makes the world a better place by inspiring its participants to a lifelong commitment to global citizenship and language learning.

iEARN-USA implements summer programs in India, Morocco, South Korea, and Taiwan. iEARN-USA implements academic-year programs in South Korea and Taiwan. 

Program Impact

iEARN-USA believes the most sustainable long-term impact from the NSLI-Y program is an increased sense of empathy and humility that comes with learning a language in an immersive environment. In addition to NSLI-Y scholars, the NSLI-Y program’s secondary beneficiaries include host family members, language teachers, and program coordinators.

How To Get Involved

Learn more about the NSLI-Y program and apply at nsliforyouth.org. 

Read more about the NSLI-Y student experience on NSLI-Y Interactive at nsliy-interactive.org.