LanguagesIf you apply for a Boren award, you are required to study a language as part of your program. You do not need previous experience in a particular language. In fact, many of the preferred languages are not widely taught in the United States. However, you will find that previous study of any language will help you learn a new one.

Spanish and French, while commonly spoken in Latin America and the Caribbean and in some parts of Africa, are not preferred languages of study. If you apply to study in a Spanish- or French-speaking country you must have advanced proficiency in the language. This requirement is in place because opportunities to study Spanish and French are widely available across the United States.

Expanding Definitions of National Security
The Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are administered by the National Security Education Program (NSEP). Funded by Congress in 1991, NSEP’s role is to strengthen our national security by helping educate U.S. citizens to better understand and more effectively communicate with other world cultures and languages. Your global study as a Boren Scholar or Fellow must have a justifiable connection with national security. You’ll be asked to make the case that your immediate and long-term plans benefit the interests of the U.S.

Today's security environment is dynamic and uncertain. Problems that once seemed quite distant — resource depletion, rapid population growth, environmental damage, food security, new infectious diseases, refugee migration — have significant implications for the United States. NSEP has played a major role in developing a broader meaning of U.S. national security that includes other factors that affect our country’s economic, military, social, and/or political well-being.

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