U.S. Department of Homeland Security Scholarship Program

A great scholarship program offered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for criminal justice degree students who have an interest in STEM fields too (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). This criminal justice scholarship program is an excellent way to pay for your education and get a foot in the door into the DHS. This is a highly competitive scholarship, but the program is excellent.

The scholarship program is for 2 years including a 10 week internship during the summer. The program pays for the student’s tuition and mandatory fees. The student will also receive a stipend of $1000 per month for nine months. The stipend helps the student to only worry about their studies and not on other things that come up. The student will also receive $5000 for the 10 week internship.
To eligible for this award, students’ need to be US citizens, must be majoring in a DHS STEM field (but can have criminal justice as a dual major) with relevance to homeland security research areas. Those areas can be found in the link to the scholarship information site that is posted below. Students’ must have a GPA of 3.30 or better on a 4.0 scale. The applicant must not be graduating before the 2 year commitment is up or the student will be ineligible.

The program does have other requirements beyond maintaining a minimum GPA level, enrollment status, and satisfactory progress towards a degree, the student must complete the 10 week internship and is required to complete a one year service commitment at an approved DHS-STEM venue. The one year service is required within two years of the final stipend payment.

Applicants must start the application process at the DHS program website. They will have to answer several questions to determine their eligibility. If the applicant is eligible then they will be able to begin the application process. The applicant will be judged on academic record, reference reports, SAT or ACT test scores, and 3 essays: research experience, current research interests, and homeland security service.

Expect the due dates to be early January 2012. Applicants should keep checking the website to see when the application is up. Go to this site for more information and application starting point: https://www.orau.gov/dhsed/newpages/scholarship.html

Review this site to see a sample application:
https://www.orau.gov/dhsed/newpages/ScholarsApplic2011.pdf
Good Luck!