National Deadline: Lane Jan, 2008
Official Website and Application

The National Security Education Program (NSEP) was established by the National Security Education Act of 1991, which created the National Security Education Board, the National Security Education Program, and a trust fund in the U.S. Treasury to provide resources for scholarships, fellowships, and grants. The graduate scholarships, administered by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and offered through NSEP, are designed to encourage U.S. citizens to study the critical languages, cultures, and regions of the world.

NSEP enables outstanding graduate students to pursue specialization in area and language study or to add an important international dimension to their education. NSEP funds students pursuing studies of those languages, cultures, and world regions outside of Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

NSEP Graduate International Fellowships enable graduate students to add an international dimension to their curriculum. Students already enrolled in internationally oriented programs are encouraged to intensify their study of areas, languages, and cultures.

Eligibility: To be eligible to apply for NSEP Graduate International Fellowship, an individual must be:

U.S. citizen and willing to enter into a service agreement (if awarded a fellowship);

Matriculated in a graduate degree program at an accredited institution of higher education, or a student currently enrolled, either part-time or full-time, in a degree program who is in the process of applying to a graduate program.

Program Elements:

Applicants design their own programs and may combine domestic language and cultural study with study overseas. NSEP strongly encourages substantive overseas study in every case.

All fellowships must include study of a language (and corresponding area and culture) other than English. Areas of study may be comparative (within or across regions), but must have a common language core.

As a condition of receiving a NSEP graduate fellowship, all fellowship recipients must agree to "enter into an agreement to work in a national security position or work in the field of higher education in the area of study for which the fellowship was awarded." The duration of the service agreement will be equal to the time period for which NSEP support was provided. The service requirment must be fulfilled within five years of NSEP fellowship completion. Please read page 5 of the NSEP Guidelines booklet and refer to page 10 for a list of federal government agencies and offices with national security responsibilities.

Fellowships will not be awarded for study of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.

Factors In Selection:

• Demonstrated academic excellence.
  
• A comprehensive, clear, concise, and feasible proposal for study.
  
• A plan to develop or reinforce language competence.
  
• Leadership potential; community involvement.
  
• Evidence of ability to adapt to a different cultural environment.
  
• Integration of proposed program into academic and long-range goals.

NSEP will give some preference to applications which include:

• Important global economic, political, and social issues affecting U.S. national security;
  
• Languages that are less frequently studied in the U.S.;
  
• Fields of study other than those that are most commonly the focus of international education.

In the proposal, applicants must address the issue of the significance and critical importance of their selected area or country, language, and culture to their academic field of study, professional development, and the nation's global security.