Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes

Nearly 90% of WISLI Participants Received Funding for Summer 2024

Funding Opportunities

The maximum cost of tuition for WISLI 2025 is $5,000. Please review the scholarship opportunities below and on your Summer Institute’s funding page.

This cost may be less for current UW-Madison students and WI and MN residents. Please consult your program’s website for more information about the costs you should expect.

New Student Document Fee: UW-Madison will charge an Official Document Fee to any student who has never taken a course at UW-Madison. The $130 fee will be assessed only one time per student, with the benefit of unlimited transcript orders.

International Students: Additional fees may apply (e.g., international services fee, international tuition fee) and are not typically covered by grants. Please review the WISLI international students page and view this international services fee infographic for more information. Please contact International Student Services or the Bursar’s Office with questions.

Additional Costs: Students may need to purchase textbooks and the appropriate equipment for classes. The program does not cover housing, health insurance, and other healthcare costs.

Institute-specific Funding Pages

Scholarships and Fellowships

WISLI Tuition Scholarship

The WISLI Tuition Scholarship covers 50% of the tuition for language study at WISLI. The scholarship will be applied directly to students' tuition accounts.

This scholarship typically can be combined with institute-specific awards such as the SASLI Fee Remission, SEASSI Tuition Scholarship, the CESSI Tuition Remission Scholarship, and others.

Deadline to Apply for Summer 2025 is March 2, 2025.

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, FLAS Awards cover $5,000 of WISLI tuition and include a $3,500 living stipend.

Applicants will be more competitive candidates if they can apply for a FLAS at their home institution. Download the FLAS informational flyer here.

Applications are now open!; Application deadline: February 14, 2025.

Boren Awards Regional Flagship Language Initiatives

The 2025 Southeast Asian Flagship Languages Initiative (SEAFLI) program allows Boren Scholars and Fellows to learn Indonesian, Thai, or Vietnamese at WISLI and then study abroad in the fall.

Boren applicants may also identify WISLI as part of their language learning plan to secure funding for one of our institutes.

Fellowship deadline: January 22, 2025;
Scholarship deadline: January 29, 2025

Research Funding for WISLI from Your Home Institution

Check your home institution’s scholarship database and financial aid office. Advisors and mentors may also know about opportunities within your department, college, or graduate school that can support summer language study.  In addition to language learning, grants classified for research, summer sessions, professional development, or another purpose may also qualify.

Each year, many WISLI students will combine a grant from their home institution with a WISLI Tuition Scholarship or an institute-specific award.

Additional Rescources

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UW-Madison Undergraduate Scholarship for Summer Study

Visit the UW-Madison Summer Term website for information on scholarship opportunities, including the UW-Madison Undergraduate Scholarship for Summer Study (available to UW-Madison undergraduate degree-seeking students)

Scholarships for Non-traditional Students

Visit the Scholarships for Nontraditional Students website for more information on scholarships for admitted UW-Madison nontraditional and returning adult students.

Other Resources

Below is a list of databases that students can search on an individual basis in order to find funding opportunities that would best fit their situation.

  • Pivot: Offers several databases for approximately 25,000 private and federal funding sources. Grants in the non-science areas are included. (Note: You must set up a personal login account using a wisc.edu email – free to UW-Madison clientele – through the COS Workbench feature for some of the COS Pivot services, however, a login is not necessary to use the database.)

The following Research Guides provide information on potential funding opportunities for

Third Party and Institutional Payments

If someone is sponsoring you to attend a WISLI institute (i.e., pay your tuition), please review the following procedures:

To create a third-party payment, the UW-Madison Bursar’s Office needs a letter of authorization from the sponsoring organization to issue an invoice. Your sponsor will need to send the following information on department or university letterhead:

  • Your Name
  • Your UW-Madison Student ID number
  • WISLI Program Dates
  • Amount to be invoiced
  • Sponsor’s Contact Name and Address
  • Payment Method (check or wire transfer)
  • Special Instructions (Where and who the invoice must be addressed to)

Your sponsor’s authorization letter should be emailed to thirdparty@bussvc.wisc.edu, and your WISLI institute should be CCed.

If the sponsor’s letter is received before the tuition and fee bill are generated, the charges deferred to a third-party sponsor will be indicated on the bill.

You can log on to your MyUW account and select the Financial tab to view your Tuition and Fee Student Account activity to verify that your charges have been deferred to a third-party sponsor for payment. Please allow a minimum of 5 business days for processing.

If the sponsor is not paying the entire tuition and fee cost, you must pay the remaining balance before the tuition due date to avoid a late payment fee.

PLEASE NOTE: If the sponsor’s authorization letter is not received before the tuition due date, you will be held responsible for paying the late fee.

The third-party invoice for the summer semester will be issued by approximately mid-July. The sponsor needs to notify the University in writing should a student be removed from sponsorship.