Flagship Centers and Programs

The Language Flagship supports undergraduate and graduate language programs and a limited number of pilot K-12 programs. Flagship centers and programs are based at institutions around the United States and offer an on-campus curriculum coupled with an articulated period of at least 1 year of intensive study at an Overseas Flagship Center.

2009 Flagship Institutions

• 22 Domestic Flagship Centers and Programs
• 3 K-12 Flagship Programs
• 11 Overseas Flagship Centers

Though all Flagship centers and programs have the same goal–to create graduates of American colleges and universities who are professionally proficient in key languages–each Flagship Center follows its own pathway to reaching that goal.

The methodological approach of the language experts and the types of students enrolled differ across programs and by language. Chinese is a high demand language. This is reflected by the fact that The Language Flagship supports nine different domestic Chinese Flagship Centers and programs as well as two different Overseas Centers. These Overseas Centers are coordinated by the Chinese Flagship Academic Council, which ensures that the structure and curriculum overseas is well articulated with the different domestic curricula. In addition, at least two Chinese Flagship Centers work closely with Flagship-funded K-12 programs. Two Chinese Flagship Centers offer graduate degrees.

On the other end of the spectrum, The Language Flagship approaches the teaching of lower enrollment languages by focusing on language groupings, such as Central Asian Turkic languages, Eurasian languages, and African languages. The Language Flagship approaches these languages through a partnership, or consortial, approach. Recognizing that no one institution of higher education has a large number of students who are prepared to learn these languages at the higher levels, these programs engage multiple partner institutions to create a critical mass of students. These students eventually study overseas at selected locations that can accommodate direct enrollment at universities.

The Flagship approach is based on flexibility. Flagship programs are designed to accommodate students who enter the program at different levels of proficiency. Some Flagship programs focus on attracting students who already have intermediate-level language skills. As Flagship institutions become more experienced in training students at the higher levels, entering freshmen with no prior knowledge in the target language may have to take an extra year to reach professional proficiency.

Regardless of the language in which a student is enrolled, the pathway to proficiency ensures that students receive intensive, directed language and cultural instruction alongside their academic majors.