Only students who attend a high school within the state of Indiana are eligible for IUHPFL. This includes students who attend high school in Indiana, but whose parents/guardians may reside permanently in another state or country (e.g. students attending an Indiana boarding school).

Homeschool students living in the state of Indiana are also eligible to apply and might need to complete additional steps in the application process to verify their level of instruction and performance in the language.

Students must be 15 to 18 years old during the program dates in June and July. 

High school students are eligible to participate the summer after their sophomore, junior, or senior years.

Freshmen are eligible to apply only in rare cases. Examples can include students who already speak the language (heritage speakers), students who are new to the U.S. educational system and are older than their grade level would suggest, and students who repeated grade levels due to previous learning challenges, illness, family circumstances, and so forth. Whenever possible, IUHPFL asks that applicants be high school sophomores, juniors, or seniors.

Students studying French, German, and Spanish are eligible to apply if they will have completed Level III by the time the program begins. In other words, students should have completed at least three full academic years of study in the target language, or the equivalent, prior to departure for the host country. 

Students studying Chinese or Japanese are eligible to apply if they will have completed Level II by the time the program begins. In other words, students should have completed at least two full academic years of study in the target language, or the equivalent, prior to departure for the host country. 

IUHPFL invites students with a wide range of proficiency levels to apply, including emerging, intermediate, and advanced speakers of the language. Heritage speakers are also welcome to apply.

Heritage speakers are eligible to apply. A heritage speaker is a student who speaks the target language at home. If a heritage speaker who is not studying the target language at their high school wishes to apply, IUHPFL will require verification of their language level in the form of an interview and/or appraisal from a teacher of the language in their school. Heritage Speakers must be able to read and write in their language, since all course work and interactions abroad will occur in the target languages.

Occasionally, a student's target language is not taught at their school. High school students who take language classes online, at the local university, or with a tutor may also be eligible to participate. However, students who take language classes outside their high school will have to complete extra steps during the application process to verify their level of instruction and performance in the language.

Students must have a passport that will be valid three to six months after the program (depending on the requirements for each host country, as outlined on the U.S. State Department website) in order to participate.

Students do not have to give their social security numbers to IUHPFL, but every participant must have a valid passport and, if required, the corresponding tourist visa. Hard copies of these documents must be submitted to the IUHPFL Office by the specified deadline/s. It is the responsibility of every student and parent/guardian to determine what documentation is needed, to pay for processing, and to ensure its submission to IUHPFL according to the timeline that will be outlined in the Student Checklist.

Students are not required to be U.S. citizens in order to participate, therefore those with a valid foreign passport can apply, if all other eligibility criteria are met and if they are easily able to enter the host country and return to the U.S. after the program.

IUHPFL alums who study more than one target language and who are still eligible for IUHPFL may apply a second time, however they cannot participate in the same language twice.