California Language Student of The Year Award

Since 2018, CLTA partners with CIEE every year to celebrate California’s most deserving world language students, who are eager to bring their language skills to the real world through study abroad. The winner will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship to study abroad next summer with CIEE and be honored at the 2026 CLTA conference. Two runners-up will also be awarded $1,000 summer abroad scholarships. Past winners have already traveled to France, Spain, Italy, Japan, China, and Morocco!"

Founded in 1947, CIEE is the U.S. largest nonprofit study abroad organization. Every year, close to 40,000 students study abroad on a CIEE program, in over 35 locations worldwide. CIEE also administrates the CIEE Global Navigator Scholarship Program, the largest of its kind, awarding more than $7 million to over 1,200 U.S. high school students every year. Learn more

To nominate a student, participating world language teachers need to be currently teaching high school students in the state of California and be a CLTA member in good standing. If you’re not a member or need to renew your membership, click here! The yearly CLTA membership only costs $25 and gives you access to the best professional network you could find in the state.

You can nominate any of your world language students, past or present, as long as they are in 9th, 10th or 11th grade during the 2025-2026 school year. They also need to be excited about studying abroad and eager to see the world! Talk to the students you have in mind before nominating them to make sure they are on board and available to travel next summer. Once nominated, it’ll be the student’s responsibility to complete a CIEE Global Navigator High School Summer Abroad application.

For a nomination to be valid, you’ll need to fill out the nomination form below by December 10, and your nominee will need to complete a CIEE Global Navigator scholarship application by January 21, 2026.  

Simply fill out the form below for each student you wish to nominate and CIEE will be in touch with you to help explain their programs and give you access to your personal CIEE teacher portal, where you’ll be able to provide a recommendation for your students and track their application progress.

Nominees can apply to any 2026 CIEE Global Navigator High School Summer Abroad Language & Culture program. The language of the program does not need to be the same one you taught them. We want to foster a love of language learning! 

New this year, CIEE and CLTA will raffle out a 5-day CIEE summer site visit, all expenses paid in an amazing location such as: Rome, Berlin, Toulouse, Rabat or Merida. To enter, you simply need to be registered and attending the 2026 CLTA conference and nominate at least one student. You'll get an entry for each new student you nominate and who completes an application. The more students you nominate, the more chances you get to win!