The University of Washington Receives Grant for Foreign Language Scholarships

The University of Washington (UW) recently received a grant of $16 million from the federal government, earmarked for foreign language scholarships. As many as 140 undergraduate and graduate students of the university can benefit from this grant.

The scholarships will be offered to students interested in foreign languages that are not commonly taught but are politically important. This means that students benefiting from the scholarships may study any language other than Spanish, German, or French, according to Reşat Kasaba, Director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at UW. The university currently offers courses in Khmer, Bengali, Vietnamese, Urdu, Hindi, Filipino/Tagalog, Indonesian, and about 50 other foreign languages.

Length of study

Director Kasaba stated that a college-level native English speaker typically requires two years to learn a language with roots that bear similarities to English and about three years for a language that does not share commonalities with English. He added that students who are fluent in languages that are not commonly taught have increased post-graduation chances of finding employment with the various global companies in Seattle and beyond.

Scholarship offering

The foreign language scholarships will be offered to undergraduate and graduate students of the university, and the monies will cover tuition and living expenses for academic year and summer study programs. The scholarships may be awarded for up to four years of study, including cultural courses pertaining to the specific languages.

The university operates several centers for foreign language and cultural studies, which offer courses in approximately 60 languages. These range from major languages spoken around the globe to lesser-known languages, such as Inuktitut (Inuit), Métis, Kazakh, Uighur, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Uyghur (Uighur), Uzbek, Tajik, and Burmese.

Funding

The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Every four years, the DOE awards grants for foreign language studies for the express purpose of enhancing the leadership role of the U.S. in the world market. Among this year’s recipient universities, UW received the largest lump sum amount of the $63 million allocated for distribution. UW will use its grant funds to cover foreign-language scholarships, instructors’ salaries, and K-12 school outreach programs.

The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies also received another grant worth $1 million from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. This sum will provide the foundational funding for the establishment of an international policy institute. The new institute will train the faculty of the Jackson School on how to effectively communicate their knowledge outside of the academic setting to such audiences as policy makers.

UW makes a concerted effort to track international developments that are happening around Seattle. In response to growing globalization trends, the university also has expanded its international studies department to include a new one-year master’s degree designed for professionals working in foreign affairs.

Image credit: Administration Building, University of Washington by Joe Mabel under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.