Richard U. Light Fellowship - Spring Study Only

Since 1996, the Richard U. Light Foundation has generously funded the Richard U. Light Fellowship Program at Yale. Through intensive language study, the Light Fellowship Program strives to help Yale students become highly proficient in one or more East Asian languages in order to cultivate intercultural understanding and engagement among future leaders.

The Light Fellowship provides full funding for travel, transportation, tuition, room and board, and incidentals to Yale undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students to pursue intensive language study at approved sites in China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea for terms ranging from a single summer to a combined summer and academic year. You must separately apply and be admitted to one or more Light Fellowship Approved Programs.

There are two competitions each academic year. The deadlines posted here are for the Early Fall Competition, which provides funding for spring, study only; those seeking funding for other terms of study should complete the "Richard U. Light Fellowship - Summer Fall and Academic Year Study Only" application.

The Fellowship Committee seeks to identify applicants who demonstrate academic achievement, readiness for the proposed program, and commitment to language study in their academic or career plans. You must have achieved a basic proficiency (at least one year of language study at Yale or at an equivalent college-level program) in the target language but should still have significant room for improvement in your language abilities. Recipients are expected to continue language study after returning from Asia, preferably at Yale.

The Richard U. Light Fellowship Program welcomes applications from registered and enrolled Yale students of all backgrounds and academic disciplines. All undergraduates (including graduating seniors), master’s degree students, and professional school students are eligible to apply. Ph.D. students are eligible to apply to the Light Fellowship only if your language study in East Asia would be completed prior to submitting your prospectus. Students registered under the Division of Special Registration (post-baccalaureate, non-degree, and visiting students) are not eligible to apply. Citizenship is not a factor in selection.

More information is available on the Light Fellowship website and at the mandatory information sessions. If you still have questions after attending an information session, you can request an appointment to meet with a Light Fellowship adviser.

Application Information:

A completed application consists of:

• Application: All sections of this application in the Student Grants Database must be completed to 100% by the final deadline.
• Language Evaluation: A Language Evaluation by your current or most recent Yale language instructor is required for all Light Fellowship applicants and is a critical component of your application. Students must indicate their most recent language instructor on the evaluation page. Then, the Light Fellowship Office will distribute forms to the relevant language instructor. Students do not need to print out a separate form and provide it to their language instructor.
• Recommendation: All Light applicants must submit one recommendation form from a Yale faculty member with whom you have taken a non-language class. You should not request a recommendation from any language instructor or residential college dean. This recommendation form will be requested and submitted electronically through your application in the Student Grants Database. Additional recommendations will not be accepted.
• Personal Essays Section: All Light applicants must complete a personal essays section on the form provided in the Student Grants Database. Your personal essays must be submitted electronically through the Student Grants Database by the final deadline.
• Unofficial Yale Transcript and Transcripts from Other Institutions: You will be required to upload a copy of your most recent Yale transcript. Transfer students, graduate and professional school students must also submit a scanned copy of your transcript from your former undergraduate institution. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, so long as the uploaded documents are clear and include all of your grades. Your transcript(s) must be scanned, uploaded and submitted electronically by the final deadline.

Please visit our website for an overview of our application process.

• You must attend ONE of the following mandatory information sessions: Session 1 or Session 2.
• You must be a registered and enrolled Yale student. All undergraduate students (including graduating seniors), master's degree students, and professional school students are eligible to apply.
• Ph.D. students are eligible to apply to the Light Fellowship only if your language study in East Asia would be completed prior to submitting your prospectus.
• Students registered under the Division of Special Registration (post-baccalaureate, non-degree, and visiting students) are not eligible to apply.
• By the competition deadline, you must have completed or be in the process of completing at least one semester of language class at Yale in the language(s) you are proposing to study.
• You must have already completed one year of language study at Yale or at an equivalent college-level program (i.e. if you are a transfer, graduate, or professional school student who studied the language at another undergraduate institution) by the time you embark on your studies abroad.

To review a full list of our eligibility requirements and general selection criteria, please visit our website: https://light.yale.edu/apply/eligibility