The Advanced Russian Language & Area Studies Program (RLASP) combines intensive Russian language instruction with a wide range of extracurricular activities, including internships and community service, regional field study excursions, meetings with conversation partners, and discussion groups with local students.

Program Features

Offered in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Vladimir, Russia and Almaty, Kazakhstan

Available during Fall, Spring, Academic Year, and Summer (8 week) terms

20 hours per week of intensive coursework in Russian grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics; additional course topics include Russian history, literature, political science, and mass media. All classes taught in Russian by expert host-institution faculty

Russian language conversation partners for two hours per week

Participants earn 15-16 U.S. academic credits per semester (8-10 for summer) in Russian language and regional studies through Bryn Mawr College

Housing with carefully-selected, experienced host families or in university dorms; host families provide two meals per day

Weekly excursions led by U.S. resident directors to local sites of historical and cultural significance, such as theatres, museums, and national parks

Extended regional field study excursions outside the host city, led by U.S. resident directors; RLASP groups in Russia have visited sites such as Volgograd and Saratov, while groups in Almaty have traveled to Astana and Ust-Kamenogorsk

Comprehensive health, accident, and evacuation insurance for all participants abroad

Financial Aid

Financial aid from American Councils is available for RLASP. Please visit www.acstudyabroad.org/financialaid to learn more about available scholarships.

Eligibility Requirements

2 semesters of college-level Russian or the equivalent
Minimum 2.7 GPA
At least 18 years old by application deadline

Application Deadlines

Summer programs: February 15
Fall / Academic Year programs: March 15
Spring programs: October 15

Interested in learning more?

Complete program information, including an online application, is available on the RLASP website at www.acstudyabroad.org/rlasp.

Read what past program participants have to say about their RLASP experience on our blog website. Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for pictures of participants on-program, study abroad articles, and more!

Questions?

Contact American Councils at outbound@americancouncils.org

To apply to this program, you must complete two main steps:

Submit a UMD approval application - start by clicking “apply now” at the top of this page. This application allows UMD Education Abroad to approve your study abroad program selection so you may earn credit in a program outside of UMD.
This application will require you to meet with your EA advisor, who will communicate important details related to participating in this program. If you do not complete this application by the stated deadline, you may not receive credit for your study abroad program and will lose your student status for the time you are not studying at UMD.
Apply directly to the program provider. After receiving UMD approval, you should submit the program application directly to the program sponsor by their deadline. Your program sponsor will determine your official acceptance to a program. You must adhere to the provider's timeline, eligibility standards, and application requirements.

After being accepted to your program, your EA advisor will guide you through the course pre-approval process where you will determine which credits you will fulfill abroad.

UMD partners with American Councils (ACTR) to offer affiliate program options in Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Russian majors and minors frequently participate in the Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) through ACTR. While you will maintain your UMD student status while you are away, you will work directly with ACTR program staff as a participant on their program. Your EA advisor, listed above, will assist you with this process and can answer your questions about the application process.

Academics on an ACTR program
Visit the Academics & Study Abroad page which outlines key considerations for your academic planning as you navigate different phases of study abroad:

Browse UMD course evaluations in the Study Abroad Course Database:

American Councils (Russia)
Course Evaluations

There may be other course offerings on this program that are not currently listed in the Study Abroad Course Database (SACD). If you are interested in taking a course not listed in the SACD, please submit a transfer credit evaluation request.

UMD uses the following conversion to assess how many credits you will get from this program:

ACTR/Bryn Mawr Units	UMD Credits
.5 units	2 credits
1 unit	4 credits
1.5 units	6 credits

Transcript from an ACTR Program
UMD will require the ACTR School of Record transcript from Bryn Mawr College in order to apply your study abroad credits to your UMD degree. This should be sent to Education Abroad at the end of your semester abroad. ACTR will provide more Information on how to request this transcript.

Costs & Billing for an ACTR program
The affiliate program costs apply to this program. More details about the specific fees for this program are available on the ACTR program webpage.

As part of your program application to ACTR, you will pay the $1,500 deposit fee to ACTR directly. The remaining ACTR program fees will be charged to your UMD student account. You will be able to use any financial aid you from UMD towards these charges.
Extra charges such as on-site living expenses or costs for activities will be paid directly to ACTR.

Scholarships for this program are available through the UMD Education Abroad Scholarship and the ACTR Outbound Scholarship Fund.

Program Dates

Term	Year	Application Deadline	Admission Notification	Program Start	Program End
Year (Fall-Spring)	2023	03/01/2023	01/20/2023	09/04/2023	05/10/2024
Fall	2023	03/15/2023	01/20/2023	09/04/2023	12/15/2023
Summerterm	2023	03/15/2023	01/20/2023	06/12/2023	08/11/2023