Scholarships

Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program

The Coverdell Fellows program offers financial support to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who want to pursue graduate studies.

Information for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

When you’re ready to attend graduate school, we can help you continue your unique service journey. The Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program is a graduate fellowship program that offers financial assistance to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs).

Bring your service home

Become a Coverdell Fellow and use your Peace Corps-acquired skills closer to home. The Binghamton University Department of Public Administration and Policy values the skills you've gained abroad in intercultural exchange, developing and managing projects, learning a new language, and leveraging limited resources.

Why become a Coverdell Fellow?

The Coverdell Fellows program provides a great opportunity for RPCVs to continue their service while also pursuing graduate studies at a reduced cost.

As a Coverdell Fellow you receive the following:

  • Financial assistance: Financial aid may include scholarships, stipends, or assistantships.
  • Professional experience: Your internship will allow you to apply what you learn in the classroom to a professional setting.
  • Supporting communities: As part of the program requirement, you’ll provide much-needed assistance to some of the United States' most underserved communities.
  • Furthering the Peace Corps mission: By sharing your experiences in classrooms and in communities, you will help fulfill the Peace Corps’ Third Goal: to promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
  • Federal jobs: If you enroll in school soon after service, your one-year noncompetitive eligibility status for federal jobs applications may, at the hiring agency's discretion, be extended up to three years from your close of service date.

Eligibility

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers earn lifetime eligibility for the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program if they fall into one of the following categories:

  1. Peace Corps Volunteers who complete the full two-year tour of Peace Corps service or are otherwise given “completion of service” (COS) status
  2. Peace Corps Volunteers who are medically separated
  3. Peace Corps Volunteers who are given "interrupted service" status because of circumstances beyond their control
  4. Peace Corps Response Volunteers or Advancing Health Professionals who complete 12 months of service within a 24-month period
    Exception:     The 12-month requirement was waived for all Peace Corps Response Volunteers evacuated in March 2020 due to COVID-19.

Two-year Volunteers who resign or are administratively separated are not eligible for Coverdell Fellows unless they had already earned eligibility through a previous Peace Corps tour.

If you have questions about your eligibility status, you may contact the Peace Corps’ Office of University Programs at  fellows@peacecorps.gov.

If you have questions about applying as a Coverdell Fellow at Binghamton, contact DPAP@Binghamton.edu.

If you are planning to apply for this fellowship, please indicate this in your personal statement and send your COS to Mel Sweet, msweet@binghamton.edu within 5 days of submitting your application to the graduate program.

DPAP Graduate Assistant (GA) Ambassador

The DPAP GA Ambassador is a graduate assistant position for full-time graduate students with outstanding leadership abilities who aspire to create positive change through a management career in the public or nonprofit sector. The GA position requires 10 hours of work per week and comes with a $5000 stipend and a $5500 scholarship per year. 

Eligibility Requirements:
  • Be a new applicant to the MPA or MS SUST Program at Binghamton University
  • Have a strong background in public service and leadership, which can include volunteer experience
  • If awarded, maintain full-time enrollment in a DPAP program, actively participate in departmental events and meet with ambassador team on a monthly basis.  
To Apply:
  • Apply to the MPA or SUST program by February 1

Other sources of scholarships