2025-2026 Academic Year Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships Application

FLAS Fellowships provide tuition support and stipend to undergraduate and graduate students to study a less-commonly taught language in combination with area studies or international aspects of professional studies. The AY FLAS Fellowship provides up to $18,000 in tuition and fees and a $20,000 stipend to graduate students, and up to $10,000 in tuition and fees and a $5,000 stipend to undergraduate students, for the study of Portuguese, Quechua, Nahuatl, or Yucatec Maya. 

• US citizens, nationals, and permanent residents

• Continuing and in-coming UNM undergraduate and graduate students in any discipline, who are focusing on the study of Latin America, may apply

• Students in the professional schools and STEM fields and those planning a career in US government service are highly encouraged to apply
• FLAS Fellowship recipients are required to complete at least 1 Latin American area studies (non-language) course and 1 language course (Portuguese, Quechua, Nahuatl, or Yucatec Maya) at UNM or in a UNM-approved study abroad program while holding the fellowship
• Undergraduate student recipients must be prepared to study one of the approved languages at the intermediate or advanced level. Graduate student recipients may study one of the approved languages at the beginning, intermediate, or advanced level.  Please note that graduate applicants who request to study a FLAS-eligible language at the beginning level must be able to demonstrate that they have achieved advanced proficiency in another language spoken within Latin America (excluding English)
• Students with or without financial need are encouraged to apply; however, among equally qualified students, preference will be given to those who can demonstrate financial need.  As such, applicants should submit their FAFSA to UNM’s Office of Financial Aid at the earliest date possible and fill out a Financial Need Analysis Request Form to have their financial need information shared with LAII. Incoming UNM students will be asked to submit the FAFSA’s Student Aid Report.

For more information on the FLAS Fellowship, applicants are encouraged to contact FLAS Coordinator, Lenny A. Ureña Valerio (lurena@unm.edu).

• Fill out the online FLAS application form 

• CV/Resumé

• Unofficial transcripts

• 2 letters of recommendation from faculty (one of the letters should address the applicant’s linguistic skills or ability to learn a foreign language)

• 2-3 page double-spaced statement of purpose that outlines the relevance of the chosen language to the applicant’s academic training and career goals. If you are a graduate student applying to study a language at the beginning level, include a statement that addresses your demonstrated advanced proficiency in another language spoken within Latin America

• 2025-2026 UNM Office of Financial Aid’s Need Analysis Form to be submitted to UNM Office of Financial Aid, requesting the analysis to be sent to the Latin American and Iberian Institute (laiibusiness@unm.edu). Non-UNM students need to submit the  2025-2026 FAFSA’s Student Aid Report (please delete or black out the social security number and date of birth before uploading it to the application portal)

Application Submission

Applicants must submit their materials electronically via Qualtrics at https://survey.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2lcu8RNvT2Q3X5I. Faculty should submit their recommendation letters directly to LAII via email at laiibusiness@unm.edu.

The LAII asks that funding recipients formally acknowledge the Institute's role in supporting their scholarship. Please review our complete Expectations for Acknowledgement for more details.