4 public policy program scholarships for City Year alumni

From the classroom to counseling

City Year AmeriCorps members spend close to a year serving full-time in classrooms, learning about themselves, their students and our educational system. Our alums go on to pursue diverse career paths-in business, government, medicine, education and many other fields. During the course of their service experience, AmeriCorps members gain a better understanding of how local, state and federal policies affect the schools and communities in which they serve. In turn, many decide to build on this knowledge by continuing their education through a Master of Public Policy program.

Explore the difference that our extraordinary alums are currently making across a wide array of professions.

“I’ve built a network of social impact leaders and changemakers from across the country and the world, taking part in projects that have changed policy and local landscapes,” says Walker Mosely (Miami ’11), a national service scholarship recipient at University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government. “My master’s in public policy program provided a new family, a new challenge and the necessary skills to take my next step in becoming the leader I hope to be.” Walker is now the Regional Director of Guitars Over Guns, a nonprofit that fosters mentorship through music education.

If you’re like Walker and find that you’re interested in positively shaping your community through policy, you’ll want to check out some of our University Partnerships. City Year partners with more than 20 universities across the nation that offer our alums scholarships for graduate-level programs in public policy. Here’s a closer look at four of those programs:

Duke University | Sanford School of Public Policy

Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University is ranked among the top 10 policy analysis programs in the United States. The Sanford School of Public Policy not only offers master’s degree programs in public policy (MPP) but also in international development policy (MIDP).  Every year, the university awards all City Year alums admitted to the MPP program a minimum $14,000 annual scholarship. City Year alums pursuing a dual degree receive a single $12,000 tuition fellowship for their first year of study.

Pepperdine University | School of Public Policy

Pepperdine University, one of California’s leading universities, has a unique interdisciplinary curriculum that balances the quantitative aspects of public policy analysis with both history and philosophy. Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy commits to preparing its students to be the next generation of public leaders, many of whom are graduates of respected social science and service programs – through its P4: Pepperdine Policy Partners Program. The P4 program provides qualifying City Year alums a number of generous tuition scholarships ranging from 40% to 70%.

University of Colorado Denver | School of Public Affairs

The University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs is a top-ranked national school dedicated to developing the next general of leaders in public service and criminal justice professions. In partnership with City Year, the university awards up to two 25% tuition scholarships each year to members of the City Year community for an accelerated Master of Public Administration. The same tuition rate applies for both in-state and out-of-state students admitted to the accelerated program, who join a small cohort of 20 participants that foster a community of scholar-practitioners.

Carnegie Mellon University | Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy

The Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University ranks as one of the world’s top public affairs graduate schools. Heinz College, based in Pittsburg, has a 50-year history of developing leaders in the public policy sphere and its program is dedicated to solving issues at the intersection between people, policy and technology. All City Year alums admitted to any program within the Heinz College are awarded a minimum 50% tuition reduction scholarship.

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