“In the Nation’s Service and in the Service of all Nations” exemplifies the ethos that is Princeton University and the mission of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. It is a call to public service and a mandate to provide the tools, the academic environment, to fulfill that call. There is a renewed interest in public service and a critical need within the US government for the most talented, dedicated young people to step forward to help tackle the increasingly complex challenges, domestic and international, that will face our nation. The public servant of tomorrow must possess knowledge and skills in a broader array of fields than ever before – languages, area studies, economics, sciences, health, education, and the environment, as well as a deep understanding of effective and creative policymaking.

Foreign Languages and Area Studies – The Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community, among others, actively seek people with fluency in critical foreign languages and an understanding of the dynamics of foreign cultures and politics.

Engineering, Natural and Physical Sciences – The US confronts a host of domestic and transnational issues, including environment, climate change, ocean and water resources, nuclear proliferation and chemical, biological and cyber warfare and seeks chemists, physicists, engineers and other scientists to develop and implement public policy solutions based on the best science available.

Health and Education – Both at home and abroad, there is a need for and an increased emphasis on recruitment of next generation policy makers with the skills, experience and innovative approaches to solve the most human element of today’s problems.

Economics – Whether through diplomacy and development, intelligence collection and analysis, or work in monetary, fiscal and regulatory agencies, economics and policy-oriented economists are the center of today’s debates and on the leading edge of policy formulation.

The Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI), established in 2006 by then-Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter, is designed to encourage, support and prepare the nation’s top students to pursue careers in the US federal government, both in international and domestic agencies. This highly competitive scholarship program aims to give exceptional students both the academic training and the practical work experience in federal service needed to succeed in public policy careers. SINSI recruits from both Princeton undergraduates and from all applicants to the Woodrow Wilson School’s two-year Master in Public Affairs (MPA) degree program.

To date, SINSI has successfully placed undergraduate summer interns and graduate two-year fellows at the following US federal agencies, both in Washington, DC and abroad: Departments of State, Defense, Treasury and Agriculture, the intelligence community, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Department of the Army, a major US Navy command and Congress. One Scholar was selected as a White House intern for the summer of 2009.

The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs annually selects up to five Scholars in the Nation’s Service drawn from Princeton juniors from all concentrations and academic backgrounds. Those selected will spend the summer after their junior year in a SINSI-funded federal government internship in Washington, DC or abroad. They will also be admitted to the School’s MPA program upon graduation from Princeton and, along with the MPA-track Scholars, become Charles and Marie Robertson Government Service Scholars. As Robertson Scholars, those selected receive a full scholarship for tuition and living expenses while enrolled in the MPA program.

The Woodrow Wilson School also awards up to five SINSI scholarships through its MPA selection process. These Robertson Scholars, along with their undergraduate-track colleagues, will as an integral part of their degree program serve for two years in the federal government in a professional-level position, fully funded by the Robertson Fund. There is also the option for one summer of intensive language training in the foreign language of the Scholar’s choice. As Robertson Scholars, those selected receive a full scholarship for tuition and living expenses while enrolled in the MPA program.

All applicants must be US citizens. Scholars, both undergraduate and graduate, are selected on the basis of outstanding academic performance, personal accomplishment and a demonstrated commitment to career government service. Applications for the undergraduate scholarship are due on or about November 1st with selection notification no later than January 1st, and may be accessed online at wws.princeton.edu/scholars.

Applications for Robertson Scholarships are coincident with applications to the Master in Public Affairs program.

“The core of public service, as Woodrow Wilson knew, is government service. The Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative is a direct response to the critical need in this country to attract greater numbers of talented students to careers in the federal government. This is the training the Woodrow Wilson School provides; this is the commitment we seek to foster through this new program.”