Funding Options

All applicants for funding must have completed the SASLI general application by the funding application deadline to be considered for SASLI funding competitions. It is completely acceptable to send the same personal statement for the funding and general application. In fact, you might complete your funding applications before your SASLI personal statement because many funding applications are due before the SASLI General Application.

Students are encouraged to apply for as many funding opportunities as they are eligible for (there is no penalty for applying to multiple opportunities). If students are selected to receive more than one award, SASLI staff will work with individuals to ensure the best funding package possible. Please review the funding options below, noting that each competition has varying eligibility and application processes.

Deadline to apply for SASLI FLAS: February 14, 2024. Full competition details and application can be found at flas.wisc.edu.

If you plan to apply for this FLAS competition, please submit the online application and processing fee as soon as possible, as SASLI may cancel classes with low enrollment. Please contact SASLI with questions or concerns.

A FLAS fellowship for SASLI covers the full tuition and a fixed stipend of $3,500. Fellowships are awarded based on a national competition. They are open to undergraduate** and graduate students currently enrolled* in a degree program who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Thus, non-students and international students who are not permanent residents of the U.S. are ineligible for a FLAS fellowship. Please look into our Fee Remission options if you are not eligible for a FLAS award.

The Department of Education prioritizes students applying for the 2nd or 3rd year of study for FLAS funding. Students may be granted an exception to study at the beginning level if they have achieved at least intermediate proficiency in another language or have other extenuating circumstances. Students applying for beginning-level language study must justify why an exception should be granted as part of their application. The Department of Education has the final say as to whether an exception for first-year study will be given.

Important things to remember:

FLAS fellowships awarded by SASLI are only available for study at SASLI.
Sanskrit is not eligible for SASLI FLAS awards.
To receive an award for an online course, students must be approved by the FLAS Program Chair assigned by the Department of Education and undergo the procedures and approval process necessary for the SASLI Distance Learning program. Please reach out to the SASLI Program Coordinator early in the application process if you are interested in attending SASLI via distance learning and would like to receive a FLAS award.
There is no lifetime limit on the number of SASLI FLAS awards you may receive.
Summer FLAS awards from SASLI are made possible through the consortium of South Asia National Resource Centers. If your institution offers a FLAS competition, we recommend that you apply for a FLAS at your home institution, though you are welcome to also apply to SASLI.
FLAS awardees must complete certain reporting requirements set forth by the Department of Education. The Center funding the study will work with students to ensure all requirements are met. Please complete the requirements to avoid the need to repay the FLAS award.
Leaving the program early may result in being required to pay back some or all of the FLAS award.

When applying for a SASLI FLAS, please keep the following in mind:

When prompted, select the “SASLI, Summer 2024, Supplemental” option.
For “Center Applying To,” please choose the South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI) option.
For Hindi and Urdu, you may select 1st (if eligible), 2nd, or 3rd year. For all other languages, please only choose 1st (if eligible) or 2nd year instruction, as SASLI does not offer classes beyond 2nd year in these courses.

*If you have applied for graduate school for the fall semester following SASLI, you can apply for a FLAS, but you must show proof of acceptance into a graduate program before receiving the award.

**Undergraduate students may be eligible to apply for awards for 2nd-year or higher language study through one of SASLI’s consortium members. Please contact SASLI with questions.

Deadlines to apply for non-SASLI FLAS vary. Please check with your home institution.

If you are currently a student (or will be) at one of the National Resource Centers or FLAS-granting institutions below, please apply for a FLAS at your home institution.

Check with your institution for appropriate guidelines and restrictions, as eligibility and deadlines may differ from the SASLI FLAS. While limited FLAS awards may be available directly from SASLI, we encourage all students to apply at your home institution for a FLAS if possible.

Columbia University
Cornell University
Syracuse University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas at Austin
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Applications for a 2024 WISLI Tuition Scholarship will open soon.

The WISLI Tuition Scholarship covers 50% of the summer 2023 language study tuition at one of the WISLI summer language institutes. The WISLI Tuition Scholarship does not cover expenses such as segregated fees, textbooks, living expenses, housing, incidentals, travel, or other costs.

All applicants to a WISLI summer language institute are eligible to apply for a WISLI Tuition Scholarship, including:

Domestic and international students
Students in degree programs at UW-Madison and students from other institutions of higher learning, such as community colleges
Adult lifelong learners and non-degree-seeking students

To apply for a WISLI Tuition Scholarship:

Complete the WISLI Tuition Scholarship application form.
Submit a one-page (approximately 500 words) statement of purpose describing your intended personal/academic/professional goals and the broader impact of these goals for language study at a WISLI Institute.
Provide two letters of recommendation with your application. You can apply your recommendation letters to your WISLI Tuition Scholarship application, or the recommenders can submit a letter via the WISLI Tuition Scholarship recommendation submission form.

Applicants must complete separate applications if applying for a WISLI Tuition Scholarship in multiple languages hosted at different Institutions. If you are applying to multiple languages within the same Institution, please address that where indicated on your application.

Applications for a 2024 SASLI Fee Remission will open soon.

All SASLI students are eligible to apply for a half or complete fee remission, regardless of nationality/citizenship, student status, or the language of study. The Half Fee Remission covers half of tuition, and the Full Fee Remission covers the entire tuition amount. Neither award includes a stipend. A separate application is required to be considered for the Half and Full Fee Remissions.

Please review the below information before applying and when you’re ready.

Important things to remember:

The application form for the Half and Full Fee Remissions is the same. Applicants need only submit the form once to be considered for both award amounts.
The review process is competitive and based on financial need and academic/other reasons for language study.
Students who accept a FLAS award are not eligible to also receive a Half or Full Fee Remission.
To receive the Half/Full Fee Remission, you will sign and submit an acceptance form indicating that your funding situation does not conflict with the rules set forth by SASLI. Please submit the form to ensure the Fee Remission is not canceled.
If you accept a Half or Full Fee Remission, your application will not be considered for the $1000 Fee Remission. These awards cannot be combined.
Leaving the program early may result in being required to pay back some or all of the fee remission.

Instructions for Submitting:

A complete Half/Full Fee Remission application will consist of the following:

Online application form.
Statement of purpose uploaded into the online application form – One-page maximum that addresses: A clear academic or another rationale for attending SASLI, how your attendance at SASLI will help you with your career, personal, or academic goals, and how you plan to continue your language study after SASLI. You may submit the same statement of purpose as you did for the general SASLI application.
Statement of financial need uploaded into the online application form – One-page maximum that addresses: a summary of major sources of income for academic study, the financial support needed to participate in SASLI, and other circumstances that demonstrate your need for support.
Two letters of recommendation or two completed SASLI Reference Forms should be emailed directly from the letter writer to SASLI at sasli@lpo.wisc.edu.

Please Note:

The Half/Full Fee Remission application is an online form that cannot be saved and completed later. All your information, including your statements of purpose and financial need, must be readily available to submit the form.
Completed applications, including letters of recommendation, must be received in the SASLI office by the deadline to ensure consideration.
We will accept both traditional letters of recommendation and the SALSI reference form equally. We will not look favorably on any one form of reference over the other. If you select to fill out the reference forms, your recommender must open the file in an application compatible with interactive PDFs (e.g., Adobe Acrobat, Preview, etc.) to fill out the form. Please contact the SASLI office if you have questions.

There is no fixed deadline for the $1000 Fee Remission, as it is part of the SASLI general application process.

All SASLI applicants – who submit a complete SASLI application and whose outside, non-loan funding totals less than their total SASLI tuition amount – are eligible to receive a $1000 Fee Remission. The award amount will be directly applied to recipients’ tuition bill by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Bursar’s Office before the start of the program.

Important information:

The $1000 Fee Remission applies only to those who would otherwise pay the full tuition amount. UW-Madison in-state undergraduates and Minnesota resident undergraduates are not eligible for the Fee Remission, as these students pay the regular undergraduate tuition for 8 credits as posted on the UW Bursar’s Office Website.
You may receive a portion of the $1000 Fee Remission amount if you have other funding, provided your outside, non-loan funding is less than the full tuition amount that you would otherwise pay with personal funds.
You are ineligible if you have received a WISLI Tuition Scholarship, Half/Full Fee Remission, FLAS Fellowship, or any external financial award totaling more than $4,000.
To receive the $1000 Fee Remission, you must submit an acceptance form, indicating that your funding situation does not conflict with the rules set forth by SASLI. Failure to submit the form will result in the $1000 Fee Remission being canceled.
Accepting a $1000 Fee Remission while also accepting conflicting funding could result in a hold placed on transcripts and enrollment until the total fee remission is repaid to SASLI.
Leaving the program early may result in being required to pay back some or all of the fee remission.

Please contact us if you are unsure whether your funding situation will make you eligible to receive the $1000 Fee Remission.

For those who may not have received (or been eligible for) a SASLI Scholarship, we encourage you to check into external opportunities.

If you are a current student, ask your department or university if there are other funding applications available to you. For those who are not current students, we suggest looking at the UW-Madison scholarship hub for non-traditional students. We also post external awards on the SASLI Announcements page. If you have questions or are unsure of what is available to you after reading through the above, feel free to reach out.

Non UW-Madison students should research external funding options at their respective institutions. Each year, many SASLI applicants secure funding through their home departments, graduate school, and financial aid office.

UW-Madison students can contact the UW-Madison Financial aid office. Please alert the office that SASLI is a non-standard course fee program at UW-Madison.