Public Service Scholarships and Funding

If you enjoy serving others and the public in general, there are a variety of funding sources and scholarships available for students entering this field. Whether it is public safety, law, public administration, or the environment, the opportunities are numerous when it comes to public service. Here are just a few samples of scholarships available for those of you interested in public service.

1. Americorps - AmeriCorps is a national network of programs that engages more than 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in communities throughout the nation.

AmeriCorps offers several ways to get involved, from part-time local service programs to full-time residential programs. Members receive guidance and training so they can make a contribution that suits their talents, interests, and availability. Monetary awards are also granted at the end of certain programs.

2. The Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund – This fund provides grants to students actively working for peace and justice. These need-based scholarships are awarded to those able to do academic work at the university level and who are part of the progressive movement on the campus and in the community. Early recipients worked for civil rights, against McCarthyism, and for peace in Vietnam. Recent grantees have been active in the struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression; building the movement for economic justice; and creating peace through international anti-imperialist solidarity.

The maximum grant amount for a given year (July 1-June 30) is $8,000 depending on the grantee's circumstances and the amount of money available for disbursement. Grants cover each term of the academic year that they will be applying towards ($4,000 fall semester and $4,000 spring semester, for instance), and student must re-apply every year that additional funding is being sought.

3. FBI Internship Program - The Honors Internship Program brings students to work at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and usually begins on the first Monday in June and ends on the second Friday in August (approximately 10 weeks). FBI Honors Interns can look forward to ten extremely rewarding and interesting weeks. You'll be working side-by-side with Special Agents and Professional Staff personnel on important cases and management issues. Honors Interns are assigned to an FBI Headquarters division based on their academic discipline, potential contribution to the division, and the needs of the FBI.

Students are compensated for their time as an FBI intern at the GS-6 or GS-7 grade levels on the government pay scale (approx. $1,270-$1,410 pre-tax, paid bi-weekly).

4. Galbraith Scholars Program- Named in honor of the Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006), the Galbraith Scholars program honors Professor Galbraith’s lifelong commitment to illuminating the economic ills of material hardship and inequality. A two-time recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1946 and 2000) and former Ambassador to India (1961-63), John Kenneth Galbraith’s contributions to American society underscore the possibilities and promise of public service in a new generation of Galbraith Scholars.

This program aims to illuminate graduate school and career options for talented undergraduates who aspire to apply themselves to important social problems. Students selected for the program win full fellowships covering travel, accommodation, and activity expenses to attend a special five-day session at Harvard University led by Harvard faculty, doctoral fellows, and other invited speakers and social policy practitioners. Galbraith Scholars explore a range of social policy issues through graduate-style seminars, panel discussions, workshops, off-site field trips, and collaborative activities.

5. Government Finance Officers Scholarship - Open to undergraduate and graduate students in public administration, business administration, finance and accountancy, whose main goal is to work in finance as it relates to state and local government and the public sector

Four scholarships ranging in value from $2,500-$10,000 are given for students preparing for careers in state and local government finance.

6. J.W. Saxe Prize – This fund is for students interested in conducting a project related to public service. Preference is given to students who already have a place in an existing program or who have created their own program.

Scholarships are given annually to one or more undergraduate or graduate students working in public service. The award is meant to enable the student to gain practical experience in public service by taking a no-pay or low-pay job during a summer or other term.

7. Women and Politics Institute - Students must have a minimum 3.0/4.0 GPA, have completed their bachelor's degree at an accredited institution before enrollment, or be concurrently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at American University in Washington, D.C. The program is designed to allow students to complete the certificate in one year.

The Women & Politics Institute's Graduate Certificate in Women, Policy, and Political Leadership (WPPL) is designed to provide you with the information and skills that you need to be involved in issues in women and politics in D.C., across the nation, and abroad. The program is a combination of traditional courses that provide you with a theoretical and methodological foundation in the study of women and politics in addition to interactive weekend seminars that bring you in contact with leading experts in the field working on women's issues.