Opportunity

YSEALI Fellowships

The YSEALI Fellowships pay for young leaders from Southeast Asia, Cambodia among them, to spend five or six weeks in the United States.[1][2] They are two US State Department exchanges under the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), which began in 2013.[3] The Academic Fellows Program is for students and recent graduates aged 18 to 25, and the Professional Fellows Program is for working people aged 25 to 35.[4][5]

Sponsorship

Both fellowships are run by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and paid for by the US government.[6][2] The Mansfield Center at the University of Montana administers the Academic Fellows Program, and American Councils for International Education helps carry out the Professional Fellows Program.[4][2] The University of Montana has hosted the academic program and the institutes that came before it since 2010.[7]

YSEALI alumni from across the region met in Phnom Penh from January 9 to 12, 2025, for a summit of 172 former academic fellows on the civic engagement theme.[8] The State Department funded it, with help from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, and it opened a year of events marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and the United States.[8]

Award and support

Neither program charges a fee. For those selected, the State Department pays for international travel, the visa and basic living costs in the United States.[9][10] Round-trip air tickets cover only the program dates, and family members cannot come along.[9]

Academic Fellows Program

Each year about 500 students and recent graduates take part, in a spring and a fall cohort.[6] Each five-week program combines study at a US university or college with leadership training, a study tour, community service and a closing workshop in Washington, D.C.[6][1] There are 12 host institutions.[7] For 2027 there are four themes: economic prosperity; liberty and freedom; natural resources; peace and security.[11] Fellows on the natural resources theme study in Montana and spend their last week in New Orleans and Washington, D.C.[7] After returning home, fellows carry out community projects; the program counts more than 2,700 alumni.[7][1]

Professional Fellows Program

The professional program lasts five to six weeks in the United States, after a stage of virtual activities.[12][3] Each fellow spends four weeks in a placement suited to them at a US nonprofit, public or private organization, joins a community service activity and spends time with an American host family.[3][10] The program ends with a forum that brings all fellows together.[3] Back home, fellows carry out an action plan, and some receive funds for it or bring their US host over for a return visit.[10] In April and May 2024, for example, fellows from Cambodia and the Philippines spent four weeks with organizations in Southeast Michigan.[13]

Both programs bring fellows on a J-1 exchange visa.[4][10] For professional fellows, this visa carries a rule to spend two years in the home country after the program.[10]

Eligibility

Cambodia is one of the eligible countries for both programs.[4][5] Neither is open to US citizens or US permanent residents, and both are taught entirely in English.[9][5]

For the 2027 Academic Fellows Program, an applicant from Cambodia must be a Cambodian citizen aged 18 to 25 on the deadline; older applicants who are exceptional and meet every other rule may still be considered.[4] Applicants have to be living in a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from October 12, 2026 until their fellowship starts.[4] They must be enrolled full or part time at a college or university, or have finished an undergraduate degree within the last four years.[4] Former academic fellows, US government employees and their close family cannot apply.[4] A passport is not needed to apply.[9] Applicants with disabilities are eligible.[9]

For the Professional Fellows Program, an applicant must be a citizen of Cambodia or another eligible country and live there, and be 25 to 35 years old. Applicants must also hold a job and have at least two years of work experience.[5] Each applicant names a project to carry out at work or in the community after the program.[5] People living or working in the United States at the time cannot apply, nor can past participants in a US government exchange who have not yet finished their two years at home.[5]

Application

Applications for the 2027 Academic Fellows Program close on October 12, 2026, at 8 p.m. Western Indonesia Time, and are made only through the Submittable platform.[4] One call covers both 2027 cohorts, and no separate call follows for the fall.[4] The spring program is expected to run from April 1 to May 5, 2027, and the fall program from September 16 to October 20, 2027.[4] Each person may send only one application.[9] Applicants rank the themes in order of preference and are placed in one; they cannot ask for a particular host university.[9]

The Professional Fellows Program takes applications through an online portal run by American Councils, with a resume, three essays, two professional references and signed agreements.[14] Selection is on merit, from the written application and an interview.[10] Review takes up to six weeks.[10] The most recent round on the program's site was for 2025, with US stays planned from April 28 to June 4, 2025, and from September 22 to October 29, 2025.[3]

Recipients

  • Sleh Ryan, from Cambodia, an academic fellow at the University of Texas at Austin on the entrepreneurship and economic development theme (fall 2024)[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 YSEALI Academic Fellows Program, About (undated)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 YSEALI Professional Fellows Program, Home (undated)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 YSEALI Professional Fellows Program, About the Program (undated)
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 YSEALI Academic Fellows Program, Application Information (2026)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 YSEALI Professional Fellows Program, Eligibility Requirements (undated)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 US Department of State, YSEALI Academic Fellows Program (undated)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 University of Montana, Mansfield Center, YSEALI Academic Fellows Program (undated)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 University of Nebraska Omaha, YSEALI Alumni Summit: Empowering Leaders for Impact (February 2025)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 YSEALI Academic Fellows Program, FAQ (undated)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 YSEALI Professional Fellows Program, Frequently Asked Questions (undated)
  11. ↑ YSEALI Academic Fellows Program, Institute Themes (2027)
  12. ↑ US Department of State, YSEALI Professional Fellows Program (undated)
  13. ↑ Global Ties Detroit, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Professional Fellows Program (YSEALI PFP) (April 2024)
  14. ↑ YSEALI Professional Fellows Program, How to Apply (undated)
  15. ↑ University of Texas at Austin, Texas Global, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Academic Fellowship (undated)
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This page was last edited on 7 October 2026, at 19:53.