OSEA Summer Intensive Maya Language Immersion Program

FLAS Funding Opportunities for Learning Maya

OSEA Maya Immersion Language Program follows the U.S. Department of Education Guidelines for FLAS eligible intensive summer language learning programs. FLAS stands for Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships. These fellowships are awarded for full year academic study or for intensive summer programs.

Graduate students have always been eligible but starting in 2010 undergraduate students are now eligible to receive FLAS Fellowships for Summer Programs to learn a less commonly taught languages such as Yucatec Maya. To read more about the FLAS fellowships see the US Dept. Education brochure.

Students interested in applying for a FLAS grant must be a student at one of the universities that have a federally recognized National Resource Center (NRC) in Latin American and Caribbean studies. A complete list of centers for the period ending in 2009 can be found here. Each of these NRCs have their own deadlines for their students at their university to apply for FLAS funding. Please check this list of universities and their corresponding websites in order to find information on the application process.

FLAS Award Amounts in 2009 for participation in an approved summer intensive language program was $4000 for tuition and a stipend/travel of $2500. These amouns may vary according to the particular university and for the academic year 2010 and later.

What if I am not Eligible for a FLAS because my Home University is not a NRC?
If you are not eligible for a FLAS Summer Fellowship because you do not go to school at a university that hosts a Latiin American NRC or if you have not been granted FLAS award, you are eligible utomatically for an OSEA Tuition Reduction Scholarship of $1000 for a total tuition rate of $3000 plus room and board fees.

_________________________________________________________________________________ PLEASE CONTACT your Latin American/Caribbean studies center to verify the availability of FLAS Fellowships and any alternative funding from your university. Please pay attention to the deadlines. If you are required to have a letter of acceptance into a summer program by the time you apply please contact OSEA staff as soon as possible to arrange for providing you the help you need to have a competitive proposal.

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Maya or Mayan Language? Yucatec Maya or Maya?
Note that Maya is commonly called Yucatec Maya by linguists and educators to distinguish it from any of the other 27 or so Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.
The native speakers of Yucatec Maya call their language Maya. Maya is the correct proper name of the language.