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]

The YSEALI logo: a blue circle with the word YSEALI and a small star, ringed by colored arcs that rise into arrows, above the words Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative.
The logo of YSEALI.

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 15
  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.