The 2026–2027 Boren Awards have been announced, and four BYU students were named as recipients:
- Olivia Allred (major: Middle East Studies/Arabic) received a fellowship to study Arabic. She will be starting the overseas portion of BYU's Master of Arts in Professional Language program in the fall.
- Isaac Doyl: (major: Economics; minor: Mathematics) received a scholarship to study Mandarin.
- Esther Hill (major: Mechanical Engineering; minors: Japanese and Aerospace Studies) received a scholarship to study Japanese.
- Maren Wenger (major: Political Science with an emphasis in International Strategy and Diplomacy; minor: Chinese) received a fellowship to study Mandarin. She will be starting the overseas portion of BYU's Master of Arts in Professional Language program in the fall.
Named for Senator David L. Boren and administered by the National Security Education Program, Boren Awards provide funding for US students to live in other countries while they study languages and cultures, particularly those that are critical to US national interests.
One thing that distinguishes the Boren program from some other language awards is the focus on languages outside of western Europe. "Students interested in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia are welcome applicants for Boren Awards, with some students taking this opportunity to get paid to add an additional language to those they already know," says James Mayo, scholarships coordinator at the Kennedy Center. This may be especially interesting to the many students at BYU who already speak Spanish, he says: "Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America, and the US government is especially interested in helping students to gain proficiency in Portuguese, which is a critical need language for government service. So those that have already mastered Spanish can definitely use the Boren Awards as an opportunity to easily gain skills Brazil's official language."
Want to learn more about the Boren program? Click here.