Rangel, Pickering, and Payne Fellowships for future Foreign Service Officers

Aspiring Foreign Service Officers, take note! Three major fellowships for those interested in Foreign Service careers have recently announced their upcoming application cycles, and there are some changes afoot to the process and eligibility criteria.

When discussing the ins and outs of financial planning with prospective students, we often counsel against holding out hopes of finding a “magic bullet,” i.e. a single giant scholarship or other funding source that by itself covers the cost of attendance of grad school. There are rare exceptions to that otherwise good advice, though, and the Pickering, Rangel, and Payne Fellowships come about as close as one can get. Sponsored by the State Department (Pickering and Rangel) and USAID (Payne), these fellowships offer significant tuition support, stipend funding for living expenses, and career placement in the ranks of these agencies’ Foreign Service corps (in fact, each fellowship requires a five-year commitment to the Foreign Service from its recipients).

Each of these programs encourages applications from historically underrepresented groups in international affairs careers and those with significant financial need. The Rangel and Pickering Fellowship programs have just announced a considerable expansion of their programming starting in the 2021 cycle, increasing the number of fellowships they will award by 50% as well as raising the level of funding they will provide to recipients.

All applicants with an interest in the Foreign Service are strongly encouraged to investigate these fellowship opportunities! See application deadlines and links to the program pages below:

• Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship – October 21, 2020
• Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Graduate Fellowship – October 14, 2020
• Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship – November 1, 2020