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When a judge ordered the Trump administration in September to restore Harvard’s federal funding, programs that received foreign language study grants through the Education Department breathed a sigh of relief. But seven days later, the funds were terminated for good.
The Department of Education notified universities on Sept. 10 of nationwide cuts to the International and Foreign Language Education initiative, which was established under Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and provided funding to more than 100 universities nationwide.
In a notice of noncontinuation sent to all schools receiving IFLE funding, Education Department officials wrote that the Trump administration had determined Title VI grants were “inconsistent with Administration priorities and do not advance American interests or values,” quoting from a budget proposed by the department in June.
The cuts impact universities that received funding through seven international and foreign language programs, including the Foreign Language and Area Studies Program. At least two Harvard programs — the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Center for African Studies — have been forced to discontinue student fellowships that relied on FLAS grants.
FLAS fellowships covered up to $18,000 in tuition and paid a $20,000 living stipend to graduate students spending the academic year on language study. Both undergraduates and graduate students were also eligible for smaller FLAS fellowships supporting summer language study.
Though Harvard’s loss of IFLE funds began in the spring, the September cuts all but ensure that programming will remain limited for the foreseeable future.
The Education Department first informed the Davis Center that its funding through FLAS was suspended in May 2025 as a result of the University-level funding freeze, according to Natasha Yefimova-Trilling, the center’s spokesperson.
Because of the freeze in the spring, FLAS-funded summer fellowships at both the Davis Center and the Center for African Studies could not be offered in summer 2025.
The Davis Center’s FLAS funds were briefly reinstated after U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs ruled the funding freeze unconstitutional. But the nationwide cuts canceled FLAS funding for the 2025-26 academic year, and the Education Department did not request funding for IFLE programs in fiscal year 2026.
The funding cut “has affected opportunities for our master’s students first and foremost, but for undergrads as well,” Yefimova-Trilling wrote.
Zoe Marks, the faculty director of the Center for African Studies, wrote that the Education Department’s decision “is disappointing on many levels, not least of which is the defunding of programs that have been pivotal in expanding access to knowledge in the US and globally, and in broadening the geographic and linguistic aperture of American intellectual imaginations.”
The Davis Center does not anticipate being able to provide FLAS summer fellowships in 2026, according to Yefimova-Trilling. The center has been “exploring other funding avenues to offset the loss of federal funding” and support other language study grants, she added.
Marks wrote that the Center for African Studies is “still trying to figure out what might be possible and what is not in the current budget and governance landscape.”
“For now, CAS is continuing to pursue the same mission, goals, and programming as before, albeit without language training grants for graduate students,” she added.
—Staff writer Anna Shao contributed reporting.
—Staff writer Ellen P. Cassidy can be reached at ellen.cassidy@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Catherine Jeon can be reached at catherine.jeon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @cathj186.
