National Security Education Program
The David L. Boren National Security Education Act (NSEA) of 1991 (P.L. 102-183), as amended, codified in 50 USC. §1901 et seq., mandates that the Secretary of Defense create and sustain the National Security Education Program (NSEP) to award scholarships to U.S. undergraduate students, fellowships to U.S. graduate students, and grants to U.S. institutions of higher education to provide excellent foreign language instruction in languages critical to national security. Today, NSEP manages multiple programs to provide proficiency among graduating students in many languages critical to U.S. competitiveness and security.
All NSEP programs complement DLNSEO’s broader strategic initiatives, ensuring that the lessons learned in one program inform the approaches of the others. NSEP provides clear measures of performance and accountability for its programs, including detailed monitoring of the performance of award recipients, language proficiency testing, and federal job placement assistance. NSEP’s full list of initiatives includes:
| Program |
Program Description |
| David L. Boren Scholarships |
Individual awards to U.S. undergraduate students to study critical languages in geographic areas strategic to U.S. national security, and in which U.S. students are traditionally under-represented.
https://www.borenawards.org/ |
| David L. Boren Fellowships |
Individual awards to U.S. graduate students for independent projects which combine study of language and culture in geographic areas strategic to U.S. national security and professional practical experiences.
https://www.borenawards.org/ |
| The Language Flagship |
Grants to U.S. institutions of higher education to develop and implement a range of programs of advanced instruction in critical languages which enable students to attain professional-level proficiency.
https://www.thelanguageflagship.org/ |
| English for Heritage Language Speakers |
Individual scholarships to provide intensive English language instruction at a U.S. institution of higher education to U.S. citizens who are native speakers of critical languages.
https://www.ehlsprogram.org/ |
| National Language Service Corps |
Initiative designed to provide and maintain a readily available corps of civilians with certified expertise in languages critical to national security for short-term federal assignments to meet emergency or surge needs.
https://nlscorps.org/ |
| Project Global Officer |
Grants to U.S. institutions of higher education, with a focus given to Senior Military Colleges, to improve the language skills, regional expertise, and intercultural communication skills of Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) students.
https://www.rotcprojectgo.org/ |
Major Goals and Objectives
Congress created NSEP to develop a strategic relationship between the national security community and higher education in the United States, addressing the national need for experts in critical languages and regions. NSEP is one of the most significant efforts in international education since the 1958 passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). The David L. Boren National Security Education Act of 1991, as amended, outlines five major purposes for NSEP, namely:
- To provide the necessary resources, accountability, and flexibility to meet the national security education needs of the United States, especially as such needs change over time;
- To increase the quantity, diversity, and quality of the teaching and learning of subjects in the fields of foreign languages, area studies, counter-proliferation studies, and other international fields which are critical to the Nation’s interest;
- To produce an increased pool of applicants who will work in the departments and agencies of the United States Federal Government with national security responsibilities;
- To expand, in conjunction with other federal programs, the international experience, knowledge base, and perspectives on which the United States citizenry, government employees, and leaders rely; and.
- To permit the Federal Government to advocate on behalf of international education.
As a result, NSEP is the only federally funded effort focused on the combined issues of language proficiency, national security, and the language needs of the Federal Government opportunities.
National Security Education Board
The 14-member National Security Education Board (NSEB) was established as part of NSEP to provide strategic input and advice, as outlined in the David L. Boren National Security Education Act of 1991. NSEB is comprised of six Presidential appointees, as well as representatives from eight Cabinet-level departments. They collectively advise on NSEP’s administration.
NSEB’s Cabinet-level members include representatives from the following:
- Department of Defense
- Department of State
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Energy
- Department of Education
- Department of Homeland Security
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- National Endowment for the Humanities
The NSEB’s Presidentially appointed members include former Government officials and experts from non-profit organizations and academia. The NSEB provides value to NSEP by ensuring that its programs remain focused on efforts which serve the broad national security interests of the United States.
While NSEP falls within the Department of Defense, it has additional federal stakeholders, many of whom are represented on the NSEB. The NSEB provides advice to meet broad national needs, rather than the needs of a single agency. Additionally, the Department relies on the NSEB for advice on hiring practices, internships, and security clearances, as well as providing feedback to inform policy changes.