Last night, as we finished the first session of JNCL–NCLIS’s Student Advocacy Academy, I felt something that is hard to put into words. This program is a dream come true for me as an advocate and an educator. Watching students from across the country begin this experience together reminded me why I wanted to build it.

the Department of War Education Activity (DOWEA) announced that it had awarded nine multi-year World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants (WLARA) for the FY2026 grant cycle. Totaling $15 million, these grants range between $500,000 and $2 million each, and go to support establishing or expanding programs in Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Korean and German.

On September 24th, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent a legislative request asking Congress to rescind $810 million in federally appropriated FY26 funds, including approximately $70 million of the funding that was supposed to flow to Title VI domestic programs. As a result of this request, it is unclear if this year’s Title VI applicants will receive any funding at all as their application awards appear to have been paused.

The following comments were submitted by JNCL-NCLIS to the US Department of Education on July 28, 2026 . You can see all posted comments at this link. JNCL-NCLIS Comments on Proposed Recission of Title VI-Fulbright-Hays Regulations The Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL) and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS), writes in opposition to the Department of Education’s “Proposed Rescission of International Education Program Regulations.”

Last week, the House of Representatives voted to approve the FY27 National Security-State Appropriations bill. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Exchange, , which supports multiple international exchange and scholarship programs, sustained a $20 million cut, leaving it with $647 million. Rep. Boebert (R-CO) introduced an amendment that would have eliminated all $287 million that this bill provided to the Fulbright Program. JNCL worked with allies to whip opposition. The