Higher Education Programs in Modern Foreign Language Training and Area StudiesNational Resource Centers Program for Foreign Language and Area Studies or Foreign Language and International Studies

The Secretary amends the regulations governing the Higher Education Programs in Modern Foreign Language Training and Area Studies--National Resource Centers Program for Foreign Language and Area Studies or Foreign Language and International Studies (National Resource Centers Program). These final regulations are needed to improve the application review process and to update the regulations in light of developments in the field of foreign language, area, and international studies. In the spirit of reinventing government, the goal of the final regulations is to markedly reduce the burden associated with the application process. These final regulations (a) reduce the burden on applicants and readers by clarifying and redesigning selection criteria to remove ambiguity and eliminate repetition of information presented in applications, (b) facilitate grantee selection by providing a larger point spread for greater differentiation of rankings, and (c) improve program quality, efficiency, and flexibility by adding changes program management experience shows to be appropriate.