New Harris Public Sector Scholarship Aims to Give Career Boosts to Government Professionals

The Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago has launched the Public Sector Scholarship Initiative, a new program aimed at supporting professionals who have worked in government and are interested in pursuing an advanced degree.

The scholarship, which is available for all master's programs at Harris Public Policy, covers at least 60% of tuition. It is designed to remove financial and other access barriers, providing support to individuals with a minimum of three years of full-time professional experience in the U.S. public sector, while ensuring price transparency for applicants.

“The work of the dedicated public servants working across government agencies and organizations plays a vital role in shaping society—from ensuring public safety to delivering essential services,” said Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Dean and Sydney Stein Professor at Harris. “The Public Sector Scholarship will make a Harris master’s degree more accessible, equipping the next generation of policy leaders with an evidence-based framework to excel in their careers and address society’s most pressing challenges.”

The Public Sector Scholarship will make a Harris master’s degree more accessible, equipping the next generation of policy leaders with an evidence-based framework to excel in their careers and address society’s most pressing challenges.

- Ethan Bueno de Mesquita

Harris graduates work across a wide range of public sector roles—from the Chicago Police Department to the IRS, Federal Reserve, and even the White House. They credit Harris with equipping them with distinctive skills that have shaped their careers and advanced their contributions to policy-focused work.

“People working in government are often faced with complex, urgent challenges and sometimes find themselves trying to navigate situations that are completely unfamiliar or rapidly evolving,” said Juliana Reschke, AM’22, a policy analyst at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). “In these circumstances, having formal training on how to analyze and employ data in cutting-edge ways is crucial, because it helps you to better understand and consider options to address the challenges. A degree from Harris provides the framework to do just that.”

Qualifying experience for the scholarship is government work at the local, state, or national level in the United States, including military service and working for a public school, college, or university. Experience with full-time employment at agencies such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps also count toward scholarship eligibility.

Initially offered as part of a pilot earlier this year in the part-time Evening Master’s Program, the Public Sector Scholarship has already seen significant interest and is attracting a diverse group of applicants from across the country.

One reason for the early interest may be the post-graduation flexibility it is designed to offer. Unlike similar programs, the Harris scholarship is open to all individuals with public sector experience, regardless of their future career plans. “Some of our peers offer a public sector scholarship that converts to a loan if the student didn't return to a public sector position,” said Devon Reber Drehmer, Senior Director of Student Recruitment and Operations at Harris. “That's not the case here at Harris.  We do not require recipients to return to a certain type of work after graduation.  Policy degrees are incredibly versatile, and we don’t want our alumni to be limited in their future careers.”

People who have worked in the public sector have a wide variety of opportunities to learn more about—and to engage with—government during their time at Harris. From the work of the Civic Leadership Academy and the Center for Effective Government, to the Center for Municipal Finance, and beyond, Harris is committed to ensuring that public sector workers have the tools they need to think critically about major policy problems and increase their impact across federal and local governments.

This innovative scholarship program provides candidates with access to the world-class education at Harris, enabling them to upskill and find new career opportunities. “Harris helped build my general research fluency and analytical skill set,” said Luke Karner, MPP’20, who transitioned from a career as a public-school teacher to one as a policy analyst at the UChicago Education Lab. “My experience at the school played a big part in helping me make this transition and set me up to be successful where I am now.”

Visit the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Public Sector Scholarship Initiative page to learn more.