Each year SIPA is proud to partner with several organizations to assist students with paying for school.  One of the organizations we partner with is the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (WWNFF).  WWNFF offers two great programs that can benefit those interested in attending SIPA.

First is the Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship.  This fellowship focuses on individuals that are interested in working for the U.S. Department of State and are applying to graduate programs.

Second is a program available to undergraduate students called the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.  SIPA is proud to partner with both divisions of this fellowship program.  What follows is a recent email sent out by WWNFF.  If you qualify these are both very generous programs that can help to reduce the financial burden associated with attending graduate school.

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As one of the United States’ top fellowship providers, we offer programs that cultivate talent and drive change in the nation’s high-need fields. Following is an exciting opportunity we’d like to share with you and your students.

The WWNFF is now accepting applications for the 2012 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs & Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowships. We seek highly motivated and academically excellent college juniors and graduating seniors or recent graduates who have an interest in pursuing a Foreign Service career in the U.S. Department of State.

Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the programs honor Career Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, one of the country’s most respected Foreign Service Officers. The goal of the programs is to attract outstanding students from all ethnic and social backgrounds who are dedicated to representing America’s interests abroad. Women, members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service, and students with financial need are encouraged to apply to one of the two Programs.

Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship (GFAF) applicants must:

1.        Be a graduating senior or a recent graduate beginning a two-year, full-time master’s degree program in fall 2011 in fields such as public policy, international affairs, public administration, business, economics, political science, sociology or foreign languages

2.        Have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or higher (on a scale of 4.0)

3.        Be a United States citizen

The Graduate Fellowship award includes:

• $40,000 annually towards tuition costs (first) and related academic expenses during the first and second year of graduate study, pending availability of funding.
• Two paid summer internships in Washington, DC and overseas.

Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship (FAF) applicants must:

1.        Be in the junior year of undergraduate study enrolled in an academic program relevant to the work of the U.S. Department of State in fields such as international affairs, foreign languages, communications, history, political and economic analysis, administration, management, or science policy

2.        Have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or higher (on a scale of 4.0)

3.        Be a United States citizen.

The Undergraduate Fellowship award includes:

• $40,000 annually towards tuition costs (first) and related academic expenses during the senior year of college and the first year of graduate study, pending availability of funding.
• Two paid summer internships in Washington, DC and overseas.

The deadline for the 2012 Pickering Graduate Fellowship Program applications is January 30, 2012.

The deadline for the 2012 Pickering Undergraduate Fellowship Program applications is February 3, 2012.

Each program will select twenty Pickering Fellows annually.

Additional information concerning the 2012 Pickering Fellowships is available online on the Foundation’s website (www.woodrow.org/pickering), including electronic versions of the 2012 Pickering brochures. Students should also visit our website to initiate their online application, which describes other documents that each applicant must forward to the WWNFF.

In addition, all applicants must send the WWNFF a copy of their most recent financial aid letter that lists grants or loans, and provide a copy of the Student Aid Report (SAR), which indicates the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) number.

If you’d like more information about the Pickering Graduate Fellowship Program, please email [email protected].

If you’d like more information about the Pickering Undergraduate Fellowship Program, please email [email protected].