The undergraduate Boren Scholarship and the graduate Boren Fellowship provide unique funding opportunities to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. national security.

 The undergraduate scholarship typically provides $20,000 to defray the cost of studying abroad.  The graduate fellowship provides up to $30,000 in support of intensive language training as well as internships or research abroad.  Both undergraduate and graduate applicants can apply for unique Flagship Language Initiative programs to study French, Portuguese, Swahili, Urdu, Hindi, and Indonesian.  

American University is routinely a top producer of Boren Fellows and Scholars. Recent grantees have studied in Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Estonia, Georgia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Oman, Senegal, Serbia, South Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Ukraine.