Wisconsin students in limbo waiting for fellowship money from Department of Education

The fall semester for the Universities of Wisconsin campuses starts next week. But at least 50 students at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee still don’t know if they’ll be able to attend class. 

The students were all awarded fellowships through the federal Foreign Language and Area Studies Program. 

The money was supposed to be released by the Department of Education the week of Aug. 14, but the funding still hasn’t come. 

And it is unclear if the program still exists. 

“Over 50 undergraduates and graduate students (in Wisconsin) were selected for these competitive awards,” said Frances Vavrus, dean of the International Division of UW-Madison. 

Vavrus said universities across the country are waiting to find out if their programs will continue and whether the money will be released in time for the students who are depending on it.

“Or will they have to withdraw for the fall semester?” Vavrus said. 

Undergraduate students at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee in the program were awarded $15,000 for tuition and living expenses. Graduate and professional students were awarded about $38,000. 

The Foreign Language and Area Studies Program was created 60 years ago as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

The program funds university-based centers focused on international and foreign language education.

The students learn expertise in “less commonly taught languages.” That expertise allows them to respond to national security needs, teaching and research across the world and at home, according to the U.S. Department of Education. 

UW-Madison is the lead agency for the program in the state, including UW-Milwaukee’s foreign language fellowship grant. UW-Milwaukee referred all questions to UW-Madison. 

Vavrus said the program is in the midst of a four-year funding cycle, so not having the money on time was a surprise.

“We have not received any information from the Department of Education as to whether the Title VI program will receive funding for this fourth year or not,” Vavrus said. “If they said the program had been terminated, we would know what to do and inform the students right away.”

Vavrus has written to the Department of Education, but they don’t have any information. 

WPR also contacted the Department of Education but did not receive a response. 

One of the reasons there are so many unanswered questions is that the staff members at the Department of Education who Vavrus has worked with were terminated.

The Trump administration cut about 2,000 employees from the Department of Education in March, including shutting down the International and Foreign Language Education office, which UW-Madison has worked with for years.

The delay also affects academic staff positions whose salaries are partially funded by the program. 

Vavrus said those staff members work in K-12 public schools across the state to expose children to literature from all world regions.

“We are actively trying to find ways of supporting those portions of salaries that come from the Title VI program, until we get word whether the funding will be released or not, and when that could happen,” Vavrus said. “I hope it’s tomorrow. It could happen well into the fall semester or when Congress is back in session.”