Starting October 1st, the French in Higher Education program will be officially accepting proposals for its 2025-26 edition.

Are you a French professor at a US-based university or college? Are you interested in implementing transformative projects, Francophone job fairs, and/or internship programs in your department and need help financing it? Look no further, the French in Higher Education grant program could be the perfect fit for you.

Villa Albertine, the Institute for Culture and Education, and the Albertine Foundation are offering grants to support innovative projects, including job fairs and internship programs, in French and Francophone studies at US post-secondary institutions. The aim is to enhance the quality of French programs and boost enrollments.

Grant amounts vary from $2,000 to $20,000, with matching funds encouraged but not mandatory.

Selected projects will exemplify how dynamic, resilient, and useful learning French is today. The funding shall be used to initiate mid-to-long-term changes through innovation and/or immersive internship programs. Impact needs mainly to happen at the department or program level, via the implementation of what can be considered best practices in the field.

In 2025, 21 universities received a grant for innovative projects ranging from the creation of an internship program with stipends to allow students pursue unpaid internships in fields like diplomacy, health and law, both locally and internationally, to the development of the ambassadors’ group of French majors and minors to visit high schools and promote French to K-12 students, through the redesign of an international program to include partnerships and student-centered workshops. If you want to learn more about the very diverse projects that were selected, check out the summary of all projects!

All US post-secondary institutions can apply, and applications must be supported by department heads or deans. Selected projects should begin between May 2026 and September 2026 and last a minimum of 2 years. 

Interested in learning more about this grant opportunity? Check out our guidelines and make sure to apply by January 31st!

Contact

Sophie MARC – Higher Education Program Officer – sophie.marc@villa-albertine.org