Federal Employer Areas of Emphasis

In 1995, NSEP began surveying federal agencies and organizations involved in national security affairs to assess their needs for individuals with global skills, based on their knowledge of world regions, languages and cultures, and field of study. The results of these surveys demonstrated that agencies are eager to locate and hire individuals with global skills that extend across a wide breadth of non-Western countries, who are proficient in less-commonly taught languages, and who have expertise in a broad range of disciplines.

This survey process resulted in an annual list of NSEP Areas of Emphasis, which follows. NSEP focuses on languages and areas identified as most critical while maintaining a vital investment in those languages and areas that may be important in the future. NSEP routinely consults with the Department of Defense Senior Language Authority, senior language officers throughout the government, and other national security agencies to revalidate and update the list based on assessments routinely undertaken by these organizations.

Languages

NSEP’s emphasized list of languages reflects a need for more than 60 languages. The languages are listed in alphabetic order, and mirror the principal languages of each emphasized country of study, as well as all languages spoken on the African continent. Other languages and dialects spoken by a significant population on the Areas of Emphasis: World Regions/Countries list are also preferred as part of the Boren Scholarships and Fellowships review process.

Countries

East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands

Eastern Europe

Latin America

Middle East and North Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Fields of Study

NSEP accepts applications from individuals seeking degrees in multidisciplinary fields, including those listed below.