The ACTFL Future Teacher Scholarship Program provides merit-based funding to undergraduate students and graduating high school seniors committed to pursuing the language teaching profession in languages other than English.
Scholars receive an annual award of $1,500 per academic year, renewable to a cumulative total of $6,000 per recipient, as well as complimentary ACTFL membership throughout their participation in the program and for one year upon graduation and entry into the field.
This was the first year that current undergraduate students have been eligible to apply, and we are happy to have 9 current undergraduates join 11 graduating high school seniors in this newest cohort!
Students in the Entering Cohort
Home States Represented
Languages in Addition to English as a Second Language
Meet the Scholars
The seventh class of Future Teacher Scholars hail from 12 home states and plan to teach seven languages as well as English to Speakers of Other Languages—including ASL, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Latin, and Spanish.
These future educators have already begun to use their skills as tutors, classroom assistants, babysitters, interpreters, and more. They count among their many achievements creating their own language learning organizations and nonprofits, earning their State's Seal of Biliteracy in five different languages (French, German, Latin, Spanish, Russian) and being recognized as participants in programs like the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Summer Scholars Program (for Korean).
Congratulations to the 2025 Cohort of Teacher Scholars!
"By teaching both a common and less commonly taught language, I will challenge the idea that only certain languages are worth learning. Moreover, I will embody my belief that students shouldn’t have to wait until college to access non-European languages. I want my students to see language not as a requirement, but as a tool to explore, connect, and understand the world more deeply.'"
- Alexis, WI - Spanish and English
- Aniyah, DE - Spanish
- Ava, MO - German and Spanish
- Ben, NJ - Latin
- Christina, IL - Spanish
- Elliannah, CA - Spanish
- Gabrielle, MD - Spanish
- Jake, MD - French
- Jenna, MD - American Sign Language
- Kara, OH - Spanish
"Education is the only cure for discrimination and ignorance, and language is the only force that can bring us together."
- Katie, GA - Spanish
- Khalil, IL - Spanish and French
- Marc, NJ - French
- Meredith, WI - Spanish
- Rachel, WI - French
- Rory, RI - Spanish
- Ross, OH - Spanish
- Sam, OH - Korean and Spanish
- Sonya, MN - Spanish
- Whitney, WA - Spanish
"In my district we have close to zero bilingual educators. Not only are these kids challenged to learn a whole new language - they also need to establish a foundation in their first language... I want to help these students to develop their English language skills while working to instill a sense of pride in their first language."
Sincere thanks to all applicants who expressed interest during the 2025 application period, as well as the dynamic group of language educators who carefully reviewed applications to select our recipients.
We thank 2025 Selection Committee chair Alicia Dallman Shoemaker and members Cynthia Jones, Kwangmi Kim, Min-Min Liang, Yuqi Liu, Esmeralda Mora, Erika Stevens, Madeline Turan, Kei Tsukamaki, and Nico Wiersema for their service and dedication to supporting future teachers.
Do you know a future language teacher?
Visit our Teacher Scholarship Program page to learn more about this program, sign up for our newsletter, and stay tuned @ACTFL @LangConnectsFdn for updates about the Scholars as well as the call for applications in 2026.