Program Preferences

Boren Fellowships are intended to support U.S. graduate students who will pursue the study of languages and cultures considered critical to U.S. national security, and who are highly motivated by the opportunity to work in the federal government.

Each year, NSEP publishes a list of geographic areas, languages and fields of study identified as critical to U.S. national security. Applicants are strongly encouraged to focus their studies on one of the geographic areas, languages, and/or fields of study listed below. NSEP remains interested in encouraging applications for study in other countries and world regions where a compelling argument can be made that an increased understanding and appreciation represents an important contribution to U.S. national security.

Study in countries where there is no U.S. diplomatic presence is not permitted using NSEP funds.

Countries

Africa
Angola Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Cote d'Ivoire Eritrea Ethiopia	Kenya Liberia Nigeria Rwanda Sierra Leone	South Africa Sudan Tanzania Uganda Zimbabwe

Europe/Eurasia
Albania Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic	Georgia Hungary Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Macedonia Moldova Poland Romania	Russia Serbia and Montenegro Slovakia Slovenia Tajikistan Turkey Ukraine Uzbekistan

Near East
Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iran Iraq Israel	Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman	Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen

East Asia and Pacific
Burma Cambodia China Indonesia	Japan Korea, North Korea, South Malaysia	Philippines Taiwan Thailand Vietnam

Latin America and the Caribbean
Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Cuba	El Salvador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Mexico	Nicaragua Panama Peru Venezuela

South Asia
Afghanistan	India	Pakistan

Note: Boren Fellows may only study in a country with a U.S. State Department Travel warning if they are willing to sign a waiver. Information about active travel warnings is available on the State Department web site at http://travel.state.gov/travel/warnings.html.

Languages
Albanian Amharic Arabic (and dialects) Armenian Azerbaijani Belarusian Bosnian Bulgarian Burmese Cantonese Croatian Czech Georgian	Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Indonesian Japanese Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish Kyrgyz Lingala Macedonian Malay	Mandarin Moldovan Mongolian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Sinhala Slovak Slovenian	Swahili Tagalog Tajik Tamil Thai Turkmen Turkish Uighur Ukrainian Urdu Uzbek Vietnamese

Note: NSEP cannot list all of the languages spoken in the African countries listed above. Therefore, should you wish to study in one of the above listed African countries and the language you wish to study is not listed, NSEP will consider that language as one critical to U.S. national security.

Fields of Study
Agricultural and Food Sciences Area Studies Business and Economics Computer and Information Sciences Foreign Languages Health and Biomedical Science History International Affairs Law Sciences and Engineering Biology Chemistry Environmental Sciences Mathematics	Physics Social Sciences, including: Anthropology Psychology Sociology Political Science Policy Studies

Exceptions to Countries, Languages, and Fields of Study: NSEP recognizes that it cannot encompass all countries, languages, and fields of study critical to U.S. national security. NSEP is interested in encouraging applications for study in non-preferred countries when the applicant can make a compelling argument that increased understanding and appreciation of that particular country/region through study abroad represents an important contribution to U.S. national security and the goals of NSEP. Students focusing on fields of study not preferred by the program may submit an application, provided they present a compelling case that links their field of study and future career goals to national security and the goals of NSEP. A limited number of awards will be made for study in non-preferred countries and to students majoring in non-preferred fields of study.

Commitment to Government Service

Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate a commitment to a career in government service.