Academia
Overview
Brief Description of the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program
Since 1977 the PMF Program has matched outstanding graduate students with exciting Federal opportunities.
The PMF Program is a great leadership training ground, whether prospective students want a career in public service or elsewhere. Based on current PMF Program regulations and policies, eligible individuals apply and participate in a rigorous application and assessment process. Those ultimately selected as Finalists seek appointments as PMFs (Fellows). PMFs perform valuable service to the American people while jump-starting their careers, and get full salary and benefits as well as challenging assignments, formal professional training, rotations to other agencies, feedback on their work, plus an opportunity to make government run more efficiently. The two-year fellowship is a full-time, paid appointment.
The two-year fellowship includes:
- Formal training of 80 hours each year of the fellowship
- An Individual Development Plan, a career journey map
- An assigned senior-level Mentor
- At least one 4-6 month developmental assignment
- Optional rotations of one to six months in duration
- Challenging work assignments
- Opportunities to network with other future leaders
Additional details can be found under The Opportunity.
What's New for 2021
Each year, the PMF Program Office reviews application materials and make updates as needed. This year, the following has been updated:
- Academic Disciplines have been added as options for applicants to select. These include:
- Gender Studies
- Parks/Recreation/Tourism
- Science and Technology Policy
- Security/Intelligence Studies
- Academic Disciplines have been adjusted to apply to a wider audience. These include:
- “Pharmacology” updated to “Pharmacology/Pharmacy”.
- “International Disciplines” updated to “International Development/Studies”.
- Skills/Competencies/Attributes have been updated as options for applicants to select, to include:
For a full list, please refer to the "Application Criteria" document under the Resources section.
- New and Updated Academic Resources have been added to support administration and faculty advising students and alumni. All documents can be found under the Resources section. These include:
- PMF Program Required Application Documents and Alternative Letter: This document outlines details on documents required for the PMF Application, including the resume and advanced degree transcript (and/or alternative). It also includes a sample of the alternative letter for applicants to obtain from academic institutions, if needed.
- The “Academia Checklist” to provide an outline of useful ways to educate students about the PMF Program and its requirements.
- PMF Applicant Handbook: This handbook details the annual application process, explains eligibility requirements, required documentation, and provides an overview of the assessment process. This resource should be used in conjunction with the annual PMF Assessment Preparation Guide to prepare prospective applicants to submit successful applications.
- Foreign Education: Those applicants who apply based on a recent or current advanced degree from a foreign academic institution (outside of the United States) and are selected as Finalists will be required to utilize a credential evaluation service to determine if their degree and foreign institution are equivalent to U.S. standards. Go to the Education Completed Outside of the United States to learn more.
- Application Steps: We have enhanced the user experience of on-line application, enabling applicants to complete some steps in any order, clarifying some of the questions, and improving the layout of the instructions. We have also incorporated additional application status messages for applicants not selected as Finalists. As a reminder, only one application is allowed per applicant, there is no appeal process, and we do not provide any assessment scores.
Visit the next section to view information on Advising Students.
UPDATED: 09-08-2020