Peace Corps Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program
for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
The Peace Corps Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program provides financial assistance to returned Peace Corps Volunteers who wish to pursue graduate education at partner institutions, which include SIT Graduate Institute.
Prospective SIT students who are selected to be Paul D. Coverdell Fellows will receive a $5,000 tuition scholarship plus room and board at SIT’s campus in Vermont during the first academic year (presently valued at $8,315) or equivalent scholarship ($13,315).
In order to be eligible for the fellows program, individuals must have satisfactorily completed their Peace Corps service* and be admitted to one of the following SIT master’s degree programs:
- Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation
- Master of Arts in International Education (On Campus)
- Master of Arts in Sustainable Development (Vermont)
- Master of Arts in Sustainable Development: International Policy and Management (Washington, DC)
- Self-Designed Master of Arts in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management
- Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
As part of their SIT graduate program, fellows must complete a practicum—a core component of every SIT master’s program—in a high-need American community (as defined by SIT). The practicum must relate to the student’s coursework and career goals and be for a minimum of six months. (The TESOL and Sustainable Development in Washington, DC programs follow a slightly different program sequence.) Only SIT’s on campus degree programs are applicable. Practicums may be paid professional positions or unpaid internships.
*To have satisfactorily completed Peace Corps service, a volunteer must have completed the full two-year tour of service or the full tour minus up to 90 days, if returned home on an emergency leave; have been granted an “Early Close of Service” or an “Interrupted Service” due to circumstances beyond the volunteer’s control; or have been medically separated as a volunteer.
SIT partners with the Peace Corps in a number of ways.
- Read additional information about the SIT scholarship opportunity available to members of the National Peace Corps Association.
- Interested in graduate school and Peace Corps service? Through the Master’s International Program, students can complete their Peace Corps service for their SIT practicum and receive a 50 percent practicum scholarship.
