Post-Graduate Opportunities

To learn more about career paths for Political Science, click here. In addition, check out the American Political Science Association's career resources.

To learn more about career paths for International Relations, click here. Additional resources are available at the International Studies Association's Professional Resource Center.

For further information, visit CPD's "What Can I Do With This Major?" page.

LMU's Pre-Law Advising program supports students interested in navigating the process law school application process.

For those of you interested in deepening your knowledge on a subject, gaining advanced skills for a professional career, or pursuing a career in academia, graduate school is a path you should consider. Dr. Feryal Cherif is the Department's Graduate School Advisor and is available by appointment to discuss the many possibilities and opportunities for further study.

Contact Dr. Cherif to make an appointment: Feryal.Cherif@lmu.edu

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship

• When to apply: freshman-senior year
• The Gilman Scholarship Program is an undergraduate grant program for U.S. citizens of limited financial means to enable them to study abroad, thereby internationalizing their outlook and better preparing them to thrive in the global economy. The Gilman Scholarship Program is open to U.S. citizen undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study and intern abroad programs worldwide.

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

• When to apply: senior year, first-year graduate student
• The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based Master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship

• When to apply: junior year
• Funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship Program provides undergraduate and graduate students with financial support, mentoring and professional development to prepare them academically and professionally for a career in the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service. Women, members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service, and students with financial need are encouraged to apply.

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, founded by Paul Soros and Daisy Soros, is a United States postgraduate fellowship for immigrants and children of immigrants. Each Fellow receives up to $90,000 in funding toward their graduate education, which can be in any field and at any university at the US. The Fellowship, which honors the contributions of immigrants to the US, was founded in 1997.

Critical Language Scholarship Program

• When to apply: freshman-senior year, postgraduate
• The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a United States Department of State cultural and educational exchange program which offers approximately 600 students from the United States the opportunity to participate in an intensive language study abroad.

Boren Scholarship

• When to apply: freshman-senior year
• Boren Scholarships, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, provide unique funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests, and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded.

Humanity in Action Summer Fellows Program

• When to apply: freshman year-postgraduate
• Humanity in Action is an international educational organization. We educate, inspire and connect a global network of students, young professionals and established leaders committed to promoting human rights, diversity and active citizenship—in their own communities and around the world. Humanity in Action is a non-profit and non-partisan organization.

Udall Scholarship

• When to apply: sophomore-junior year
• The Udall Foundation awards scholarships to college sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or to the environment. In 2017, the Udall Foundation anticipates awarding 60 scholarships of up to $7,000 each.

Truman Scholarship

• When to apply: junior year
• As the living memorial to our thirty-third President, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation supports the graduate education and professional development of outstanding young people committed to public service leadership. Since its creation in 1975, the Foundation has supported almost 3,000 Truman Scholars who are making a difference in all corners of the nation and around the globe. Select a link below to learn more about the Truman Foundation and to find out how you can support our work.

UK Fulbright Summer Institutes

• When to apply: freshman-senior year
• The US-UK Fulbright Commission offers special Summer Institutes for US citizens to come to the UK.  These summer programs provide the opportunity for US undergraduates (aged over 18), with at least two years of undergraduate study left to complete, to come to the UK on a three or four week academic and cultural summer program.

Carnegie Endowment Junior Fellowship

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• Each year the endowment offers approximately 10-12 one-year fellowships to uniquely qualified graduating seniors and individuals who have graduated during the past academic year. They are selected from a pool of nominees from close to 400 participating colleges. Carnegie junior fellows work as research assistants to the endowment's senior associates. Those who have begun graduate studies are not eligible for consideration. See your school’s nominating official to learn more about the college application process.

Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• The Coro Fellows Program uses the city as a classroom to train the next generation of change makers. Today’s complex urban environments present constantly evolving challenges and opportunities, creating an increasing need for versatile leaders with the ability to forge connections and lead across the non- profit, business and government sectors. Competitively selected applicants will join an intimate cohort of 12 participants for the nine-month program, with each cohort encompassing a wide range of communities, interests, ideologies and experiences.

Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship

• The PPIA Fellowship Program is designed to prepare college juniors or rising seniors from diverse backgrounds for graduate studies in public and/or international affairs and groom them for professional roles in public service. There is an array of opportunities under the Fellowship which span a period of development from the junior year of college to beyond the completion of a graduate degree. Applicants must be committed to completing a Master’s Degree in public and/or international affairs at one of the PPIA Consortium graduate schools.

Strauss Scholarship

• When to apply: freshman-junior year
• The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation was created as a memorial to the late Don Strauss, who demonstrated a strong, lifelong commitment to public service and education. The Foundation annually awards $10,000 scholarships to approximately 14 California college sophomores and juniors who reflect a similar commitment.

Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship

• When to apply: postgraduate
• The Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program is a social justice program that trains, inspires, and sustains leaders. Fellows gain field experience fighting hunger and poverty through placements in community-based organizations across the country, and policy experience through placements in Washington, D.C. The program bridges community-based efforts and national public policy, and fellows develop as effective leaders in the movement to end hunger and poverty.

Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship

• When to apply: postgraduate
• The Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program trains emerging leaders in the fight to end hunger worldwide. It is a unique two-year program that combines field and policy work. Leland Fellows develop new skills while actively working to alleviate hunger and poverty in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. During the first year, fellows work directly to build food security in the field. In the second year, fellows apply their field experience to the design of sound development policy at the organizational, national, and international level.

Gates-Cambridge Scholarship

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• Scholarships are awarded to outstanding applicants from countries outside the UK to pursue a full-time postgraduate degree in any subject available at the University of Cambridge. The selection criteria are: outstanding intellectual ability, leadership potential, a commitment to improving the lives of others, a good fit between the applicant's qualifications and aspirations and the postgraduate program at Cambridge for which they are applying

Davies-Jackson Scholarship for Humanities

• Year to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• The Davies-Jackson Scholarship presents a unique opportunity for students with exceptional academic records, who are among the first generation in their families to graduate college, to participate in a course of study at St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge. Scholars are admitted as affiliated students and have the opportunity to take the more advanced parts of a Cambridge degree course and qualify for a Cambridge BA in two years instead of the usual three. Following the completion of their first year of study some Scholars have opted into a one year M. Phil program at the discretion of the Senior Tutor at St. John's.

Scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich educational environment of St. John’s, which was founded in the 16th century, by reading in one of the following subjects: Archaeology; Classics; Economics; Education; English; Geography; History; History of Art; History and Modern Languages; History and Politics; Human, Social, and Political Sciences (HSPS includes politics, international relations, sociology, anthropology, and archaeology); Mathematics; Modern and Medieval Languages; Music; Philosophy; or Psychological and Behavioural Sciences.

Jacob K. Javits Fellowship for Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• The Javits Fellowship is named for the late Senator Jacob Javits of New York and is awarded to approximately 300 students seeking graduate degrees in selected fields of study of the arts, humanities and social sciences. Awards are based on need and recipients are chosen by merit through a competitive process. A board, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education, determines fields of study. Competitions are held annually for the awarding of the Javits Fellowship. Under this fellowship, students receive a stipend of up to $15,000 and tuition covering $10,375.

Luce Scholarship in Asia

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• The Luce Scholars Program is a nationally competitive fellowship program. It was launched by the Henry Luce Foundation in 1974 to enhance the understanding of Asia among potential leaders in American society. The program provides stipends, language training, and individualized professional placement in Asia for 15-18 Luce Scholars each year, and welcomes applications from college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals in a variety of fields who have had limited exposure to Asia.

British Marshall Scholarship

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a graduate degree in the United Kingdom. Up to forty Scholars are selected each year to study at graduate level at an UK institution in any field of study. As future leaders, with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments and their institutions. Marshall Scholars are talented, independent and wide-ranging, and their time as Scholars enhances their intellectual and personal growth. Their direct engagement with Britain through its best academic programs contributes to their ultimate personal success.

Mitchell Scholarship in Ireland

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• The George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program, named to honor former US Senator George Mitchell's pivotal contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process, is designed to introduce and connect generations of future American leaders to the island of Ireland, while recognizing and fostering intellectual achievement, leadership, and a commitment to community and public service. Up to twelve Mitchell Scholars between the ages of 18 and 30 are chosen annually for one academic year of postgraduate study in any discipline offered by institutions of higher learning in Ireland (study in Northern Ireland is not currently an option through the Mitchell Scholarship).

NIH Oxford Cambridge Scholars Program for Biomedical Research

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• The National Institutes of Health Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program is an accelerated, individualized doctoral training program for outstanding science students committed to biomedical research careers. The program is based on the British system, in which students perform doctoral research without required formal courses other than those students choose to take in relationship to their own interests. Students selected for admission to the program have already developed a passion for science through engagement in summer, job related, or undergraduate research programs.

Rhodes Scholarship

• When to apply: senior year, postgraduate
• Rhodes Scholars are chosen not only for their outstanding scholarly achievements, but for their character, commitment to others and to the common good, and for their potential for leadership in whatever domains their careers may lead. The Rhodes Trust, a British charity established to honor the will and bequest of Cecil J. Rhodes, provides full financial support for Rhodes Scholars to pursue a degree or degrees at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in partnership with the Second Century Founder, John McCall MacBain and other generous benefactors. The first U.S. Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904.