Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
is expanding the Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative, a highly
selective scholarship program designed to encourage more of the
nation's top students to pursue careers in the U.S. federal government,
especially in the field of international relations.
Last fall the board of trustees of the Robertson Foundation, which is
providing funding for the program, voted unanimously to expand the
existing program by an additional five four-year scholarships for any
U.S. citizens who apply for enrollment in the school's two-year master
in public affairs (MPA) graduate degree program.
Princeton formally launched
the Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative in February 2006. At
that time the Robertson Foundation, also by a unanimous vote,
authorized the Woodrow Wilson School's dean, Anne-Marie Slaughter, to
select the program's first five scholars from among Princeton juniors
only.
"We at the Woodrow Wilson School are delighted that the Robertson
Foundation has given its unanimous support to the expansion of this
innovative program," said Slaughter. "The Scholars in the Nation's
Service Initiative should encourage more of our country's best and
brightest students -- at Princeton and elsewhere -- to consider careers
in the federal government, particularly in the field of international
affairs."
The program will become operational in the spring of 2007, when the
first cohort of scholars drawn from Princeton juniors will be selected.
They will spend their final three semesters completing their majors,
taking selected courses in public policy and learning about career
opportunities in the federal government. During the summer after their
junior year, they will complete a federal government internship. After
graduation, recipients will be known as Charles and Marie Robertson
Government Service Scholars and will serve for two years in the federal
government, with their salaries funded by the Robertson Foundation and
paid through Princeton University. The scholars will then return to
Princeton to enroll in the Woodrow Wilson School's MPA graduate degree
program.
In the spring of 2008 the Woodrow Wilson School will select the first
cohort of graduate scholars from U.S. citizens who have already
completed their undergraduate work at Princeton or other institutions
of higher education. These students will serve for two years in the
federal government, also as Charles and Marie Robertson Government
Service Scholars, and then enter the Woodrow Wilson School.
The purposes of the scholarship program, modeled after the Rhodes and
Marshall scholars, are twofold. The first is to raise the prestige of
government service among an entire generation of college students and
to encourage these students to enter government service. The second is
to provide exceptional students with opportunities to experience
government service firsthand and to gain the skills and contacts they
will need to succeed in government service. The Scholars in the
Nation's Service Initiative will help draw the very best students into
the school and into government service.
The Scholars in the Nation's Service will be selected based on their
superior academic performance, a proven track record of accomplishment
and a demonstrated commitment to government service. The program is
particularly interested in students who combine knowledge of public
policy with high achievement in natural science or engineering, or
students with substantial knowledge of "difficult" languages such as
Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Swahili,
Urdu, etc.
The Woodrow Wilson School and the Partnership for Public Service, a
Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated
to revitalizing public service, will work with the selected scholars to
match their skills with substantive work in the federal government. In
particular, in keeping with the mission of the Robertson Foundation,
scholars will be encouraged to pursue careers in those areas of the
federal government that are concerned with international relations and
affairs.
