Student Employment Programs
Pathway Programs
As of July 10, 2012 the Final Rule implementing the Pathways Program was published. In effort to be more competitive in other sectors President Obama signed Executive Order 13562, entitled "Recruiting and Hiring Students and Recent Graduates" on December 27, 2010.
Per OPM, this Executive order established two new programs and modified another. They are the Internship Program for current students; the Recent Graduates Program for people who have recently graduated from qualifying educational institutions or programs (2 years from the date the graduate completed an academic course of study); and the reinvigorated Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program for people who obtained an advanced degree (e.g., graduate or professional degree) within the preceding two years. These programs, collectively the Pathways Programs, are streamlined developmental programs tailored to promote employment opportunities for students and recent graduates in the Federal workforce.
As directed by the Executive order, OPM issued a final Pathways Rule to implement these programs. The final rule aims to improve recruiting efforts, offer clear paths to Federal internships for students from high school through post-graduate school and to careers for recent graduates, and to provide meaningful training and career development opportunities for individuals who are at the beginning of their Federal service.
The Internship Program is for current students. It replaces the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) and Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP). The new Internship Program provides students in high schools, colleges, trade schools and other qualifying educational institutions with paid opportunities to work in agencies and explore Federal careers while completing their education.
The Recent Graduates Program provides developmental experiences in the Federal Government. It is intended to promote possible careers in the civil service to individuals who, within the previous two years, graduated from qualifying educational institutions with an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from qualifying educational institutions. To be eligible, applicants must apply within the previous two years of degree or certificate completion except for veterans precluded from doing so due to their military service obligation, who will have up to six years after degree or certificate completion to apply. For more information about Federal employment information for veterans, go to OPM's Feds Hire Vets website.
For more than three decades, the PMF Program has been the Federal Government's premier leadership development program for advanced degree (e.g., masters or professional degree) candidates. Executive Order 13562 expands the eligibility window for applicants, making it more "student friendly" by aligning it with academic calendars and allowing those who have received a qualifying advanced degree within the preceding two years to participate. It also directs OPM to set eligibility requirements and minimum qualification standards, and to make the PMF experience more robust and substantive for participants.
SMART is a Department of Defense sponsored competitive scholarship program that supports students who wish to obtain a degree in science, math or engineering. Each SMART fellow will receive a salary/stipend based upon the student's academic status, full tuition, and payment for required fees. Students may be appointed as DoD term employees during the tenure of the scholarship/fellowship. The scholarship is valid throughout the duration of each student's course of study. Upon acceptance of the award, each awardee signs a DoD civilian service agreement for employment with the DoD civilian science and technology workforce upon completion of his or her fellowship. Term of post-degree employment with a DoD lab is commensurate with fellowship length.
Applications are accepted in February. Awards notification is announced annually each spring. Scholarship award winners will have three weeks to accept or reject the offer after the official notification.
All awardees must be a U.S. citizen, 18 years of age or older, able to participate in summer internships at DoD laboratories, willing to accept post-graduate employment with the DoD, a student in good standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (at all schools attended) and, pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in one of the fields listed on the website.