HKS Will Offer 50 Full-Ride Scholarships to Veterans and Longtime Public Servants

The Harvard Kennedy School is offering 50 full-ride scholarships to public servants and veterans for a one-year degree through the Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration program, the school announced on Thursday morning.

The “American Service Fellowship” — the largest single-year program in HKS history — is funded by $5 million in private donations and will provide each recipient with $100,000 to cover tuition, fees, and a stipend.

It is only open to those who have served in their role for at least seven years, targeting career public servants as the White House continues to lay off federal workers en masse. Approximately half the fellows will come from the military and half from other public service careers, and HKS will launch a 50-state recruiting effort, according to a Thursday press release.

The fellowship is a pilot program and will be funded by donations raised specifically to support it.

Although the announcement did not directly mention the mass federal layoffs, HKS dean Jeremy M. Weinstein issued a tacit rebuke of the administration in the press release, writing that there is “nothing more patriotic than public service.”

“In this moment of political division and major challenges in America, it has never been a more important time to invest in the next generation of public servants,” he wrote. “That’s what this fellowship is all about.”

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has reportedly eliminated 59,000 jobs from the federal workforce, shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development, dismantling the Department of Education, and slashing roles across various other agencies.

In May, many employees were temporarily granted reprieve by a district court ruling that firings likely constituted an unconstitutional exercise of executive power.

But in an unsigned order last week, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the White House to resume its sweeping effort to downsize federal agencies, lifting the lower court injunction while litigation proceeds. Days later, the Court issued a similar go-ahead to the administration in a case concerning cuts to the Department of Education.

Weinstein first addressed the layoffs in a February email to affiliates where he acknowledged that many HKS alumni in public service “have had their careers and lives upended.”

At the time, he also announced various initiatives to bolster support for alumni, including one-on-one coaching sessions for public servants and a video campaign entitled “This Work Matters” to celebrate the accomplishments of graduates.

The scholarship initiative is tiny compared to the scale of federal layoffs But it’s a clear sign that HKS hopes to stay on the offensive even as the school reels from federal funding cuts. Last month, Weinstein struck a far different tone in an email announcing layoffs and a slew of cost-cutting measures in response to “significant financial challenges.”

That balancing act — dealing with potentially devastating funding loss even while trying to use changes in Washington as opportunities for HKS — is one that Weinstein has worked hard to maintain as he completes his first year as dean.

In April, for instance, as Harvard braced itself for budget shortfalls, Weinstein announced a grant program offering up to $20,000 to faculty who proposed projects “responsive to the moment.”

Likewise, days after President Trump cited HKS’s hub for human rights research as one of many Harvard programs that allegedly “fuel antisemitic harassment or reflect ideological capture,” the school announced it had received a $10 million donation to double down on that very work.

And now, as the White House continues to hack away at the federal workforce, HKS is welcoming those public servants with open arms.

“Whether you served in the U.S. armed forces, in any level of government, as a teacher, a law enforcement professional, or in a civilian service organization, we want you to come to HKS,” Weinstein wrote in the Thursday press release.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.