Thanks to your hard work and commitment, we have successfully completed another great season, interviewing over 1,000 candidates! This is an amazing accomplishment, and we would not be able to do it without the dedication of our incredible volunteers and program alumni.

We hope you enjoyed meeting some outstanding students as much as we did throughout this uplifting process. Volunteer-led events were conducted nationwide, as were individual and virtual interviews, and a 50-candidate blended in-person/virtual event was led by staff at the AFS-USA office in NYC. We thank you for your continued flexibility with conducting interviews in-person, virtually, individually, and at events each year. As we turn our attention to scholarship selection and notifications, we’d like to update you about program timelines.

• NSLI-Y notifications occur on a rolling basis, typically concluding in mid-April. Students receiving a scholarship offer will receive information about their implementing organization and details of their program. Candidates will have approximately one week to decide whether to accept or decline the scholarship offer.
  • We want to note here that ECA has removed Hindi from the list of strategic languages supported by the NSLI-Y program, so we are not expecting future NSLI-Y participants to India but are happy to continue sending there for YES Abroad.
• YES Abroad notifications will be sent on a rolling basis throughout March. Students selected as finalists will receive their country placement, implementing organization, and program details at that time and will be notified of their next steps and follow-up responsibilities. Candidates will have approximately one week to decide whether to accept or decline the scholarship offer.

If you are contacted by a NSLI-Y or YES Abroad candidate with questions about selection or their program offer, kindly direct them to the implementing organization specified in their selection notification. Candidates implemented by AFS will be added to Global Link in the weeks after they accept the scholarship and complete their required paperwork.

The complete finalist lists of NH25 NSLI-Y Virtual Summer Intensive (VSI), NSLI-Y Summer Overseas, NSLI-Y academic year, and YES Abroad from your area will be posted to MyAFS Help & Learning and you will be updated by email to review the lists as they become available. Like in past years, we expect these lists to be shared with AFS in late spring.

Lastly, we want to highlight our key focus at this time of year: promoting AFS-USA hosting programs. As a dedicated NSLI-Y interviewer, you already play a vital role in fostering intercultural connections and supporting public diplomacy. Here’s another powerful way to contribute—advocate for AFS-USA hosting programs and amplify their impact. For the 2025-26 school year, over 200 U.S. State Department program participants need welcoming host families. Among them is Alrifirah from Indonesia, who is eager to experience life in the U.S., improve her English skills, and share her culture.

Please consider families you know — perhaps even your own — who might embrace this opportunity to foster cross-cultural understanding. You can help promote this initiative by sharing this link:  https://www.afsusa.org/host-family/. We appreciate all that you do!

If you have any additional questions about the interview season, please direct them to nsliyinterviews@afsusa.org.

Thank you again for your amazing support!

The AFS NSLI-Y and YES Abroad Interviews Team