Pickering Fellowship

The Pickering Fellowship provides graduate fellowships to college seniors and college graduates committed to joining the Foreign Service.  The fellowship funds two-year graduate programs, provides two summer internships, offers mentoring from a Foreign Service Officer, and provides other professional development activities. 

Once fellows have completed a two-year master’s degree program and all Foreign Service entry requirements, they work as Foreign Service Officers, serving in Washington, DC and at a U.S. embassy, consulate, or diplomatic missions around the globe. 

Supported areas of study: public policy, international affairs, public administration, business, economics, political science, management science, organizational development/leadership, sociology, or regional studies.

Students apply to the Fellowship at the beginning of their senior year. 

Benefits: 

  • $42,000 annually for a two-year period for tuition, room, board, books, and mandatory fees for completion of two-year master’s degrees.  This includes up to $24,000 per year for tuition and mandatory fees and an academic year stipend of $18,000. 
  • Two internships: The first, working in the U.S. Department of State headquarters in Washington, DC, will occur in the summer in between their first and second year of graduate study.  The second internship will be an overseas placement in a U.S. Embassy or Consulate that takes place during the summer after fellows’ graduation.

To apply for this program, students must:

  • Be a U.S. citizen.
  • Have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale at the time of application.
  • Seek admission to a two-year, full-time, on-campus, master’s degree program at a U.S.-based graduate institution to begin in the fall of 2022 in an academic field relevant to the work of the Foreign Service.

Link to complete eligibility requirements

Deadline: September 21, 2023 

Campus Contacts:

Nives Dal Bo-Wheeler, nives.dalbowheeler@maine.edu (Office of Major Scholarships, Director)