ACTFL and the Language Connects Foundation (LCF) are delighted to announce the selection of the 2026 cohort of the Future Teacher Scholarship Program.
This program provides merit-based funding to both undergraduate and graduate students who are committed to pursuing the language teaching profession in languages other than English Language Arts. Undergraduate scholars receive an annual award of $1,500 per academic year, renewable to a cumulative total of $6,000 per recipient. Graduate-level scholars receive an annual award of $500 per academic year, renewable to a cumulative total of $1,000. Both levels also receive a complimentary ACTFL membership during and for one year following their participation in the program.
The eighth class of Future Teacher Scholars includes 30 awardees who hail from 18 home states and plan to teach nine languages including Arabic, English as a Second Language, French, German, Hmong, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.
Demonstrative of our commitment to expanding existing support for current and future educators who enter the profession from diverse pathways, the Future Teacher Scholarship Program actively invites applications from all types of future teachers: graduating high school seniors, candidates currently enrolled in four-year undergraduate programs as well as two-year or community college programs, and graduate students pursuing licensure in a certification program.
These future educators have already begun to use their skills as tutors, teaching assistants, researchers, substitutes, interpreters, and more. They count among their many achievements the creation of local language learning conversation groups, volunteering with local organizations on advocacy projects for refugees, immigrants, and speakers of other languages, earning their State's Seal of Biliteracy in five different languages (French, German, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish), and being recognized as participants in programs like the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Summer Scholars Program, the Critical Language Scholarship, and Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Awards.
One undergraduate scholar explained:
“Knowing a world language is a superpower. Teaching a world language means developing that superpower in the next generation of global citizens. This is my dream job!”
One graduate scholar explained:
“I pursued graduate study in heritage language education because this work deserves a research base as strong as its heart. I am committed to continuing as a world language educator who builds rigorous, affirming spaces for heritage learners, one lesson, one student, one classroom at a time.”
As our country continues to face the challenge of a language educator shortage in nearly every state, ACTFL and LCF continue to prioritize efforts to recruit, retain, and support a diverse, well-trained, and passionate teacher workforce.
For those wishing to support future awardees of this scholarship program, more information is available at Language Connects Foundation.