Yale Hindi Debate fields three separate categories.

Non-Native, Non-Heritage: People who are not from Hindi-speaking and/or South Asian descent, and are not currently residing in South Asia, who are learning Hindi as an additional language.

Heritage: People who are from either Hindi-speaking and/or South Asian descent, but are not currently classified as “International Students” by their institution.

Native: People who are from either Hindi-speaking and/or South Asian descent, and are currently classified as “International Students” by their institution.

The Yale Hindi Debate offers last-dollar reimbursement for travel for students participating in the Yale Hindi Debate. This means that we offer funding as a last resort after participating schools have used their own resources. Due to budgetary restrictions, we are unable to offer full funding for travel in all cases. The map below illustrates the maximum amount that can be reimbursed for students traveling from a given part of the country to New Haven for the debate.

Zone 1: Northeast, $100

Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, D.C.

Zone 2: South $300

Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida

Zone 3: Midwest $300

Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana

Zone 4: West $500

Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona

Each university is allowed to send 2 participants, with each participant necessarily belonging to a different category.

When in New Haven, students stay with student hosts in Yale’s on- and off-campus housing. We do not offer travel reimbursements to faculty members wishing to attend the debate, though we welcome any interested faculty and are prepared to partially reimburse accommodation if given advance notice.