Students

The Department of Homeland Security offers a variety of prestigious scholarships, fellowships, internships and training opportunities to expose talented students to the broad national security mission.

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Secretary's Honors Program

• The Secretary's Honors Program (SHP) is a recruitment initiative for exceptional recent graduates interested in pursuing a career at DHS. The Secretary’s Honors Program offers professional development and training opportunities for talented entry-level professionals in the fields of cybersecurity, information technology, management, emergency management, policy and law within DHS.

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• SHP Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative

  • The Secretary’s Honors Program Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative is for current college students pursuing a program of study in a cybersecurity-related field. Selected students learn about the DHS cybersecurity mission, complete hands-on cybersecurity work, and build technical experience in key areas such as digital forensics, network diagnostics, and incident response. Additionally, students participate in mentoring and professional development activities with DHS managers and senior leaders from across components. DHS expects to place more than 75 student volunteers at more than 50 DHS offices in 2015.

  • Applications for the 2015 Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative are currently being accepted. Please visit the job opportunity announcement on USAJOBS for more information about the application and selection process.

 

Pathways Programs

The Pathways Programs offer clear paths to federal internships for students from high school through post-graduate school and to careers for recent graduates, and provide meaningful training and career development opportunities for individuals who are at the beginning of their federal service. As a student or recent graduate, you can begin your career in the federal government by choosing the path that best describes you and where you are in your academics.

• Internship Program (OPM): This program is for current students enrolled in a wide variety of educational institutions from high school to graduate level, with paid opportunities to work in agencies and explore Federal careers while still in school.

• Recent Graduates Program (OPM): This program is for individuals who have recently graduated from qualifying educational institutions or programs and seek a dynamic, career development program with training and mentorship. To be eligible, applicants must apply within two years of degree or certificate completion (except for veterans precluded from doing so due to their military service obligation, who will have up to six years to apply).

• Presidential Management Fellows Program (OPM): For more than three decades, the PMF Program has been the Federal government’s premier leadership development program for advanced degree candidates. This program is now for individuals who have received a qualifying advanced degree within the preceding two years.

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Health and Science

• Office of Health Affairs Volunteer Scholars Program offers unique unpaid work opportunities to students interested in medical and health matters. Applications are reviewed quarterly.

• DHS Scholarship Program provides individual scholarships to support undergraduate students pursuing degrees in homeland security-focused courses of study.

• National HS-STEM Summer Internship Program provides undergraduate juniors and seniors the opportunity to work with homeland security professionals and researchers for up to ten weeks during the summer. Participants are provided a stipend and conduct research in DHS mission-relevant research areas at federal research facilities and DHS Centers of Excellence.

• Summer Research Team Program conducts research at one of the twelve U.S. Department of Homeland Security Centers of Excellence and their partners for ten weeks during the summer.

• Nuclear Forensics Undergraduate Scholarship Program (NFUSP) provides scholarships to qualified undergraduate students pursuing degrees in disciplines relevant to technical nuclear forensics including physics, chemistry, nuclear engineering, and material science. Students gain hands-on experience through summer research opportunities at the Department of Energy national laboratories and close interaction with technical experts throughout the national nuclear forensics community.

• Nuclear Forensics Research Award supports the establishment of a team of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, with a national or defense laboratory partner, to conduct advanced research in nuclear forensics. This award will foster relationships and facilitate collaboration between universities and the laboratories, and encourage joint research in the nuclear forensics field as well as the sharing of equipment and literature.

• Seaborg Institute Nuclear Science Summer Internship Program seeks graduate students from research universities across the nation to work in critical skills areas related to nuclear forensics. Students are given an opportunity to join scientists in independent research projects at a national laboratory and are teamed with mentors who can help hone their skills and guide research projects for advanced degrees.

• Nuclear Forensics Undergraduate Summer School provides undergraduate students with comprehensive, experimental, hands-on training in topics essential to nuclear forensics. Through laboratory experiments and complementary lectures, students are introduced to the practice and technical aspects of nuclear forensic science.

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Intelligence and Analysis

• The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) Internship Program is designed for current undergraduate and graduate students seeking to launch an exciting career in homeland security and intelligence. I&A offers elite internships in the functional areas of Intelligence Analysis, Intelligence Operations, Management/Support, Information Technology, and Policy. The I&A Internship Program is structured to provide the experience and skill needed to produce capable, well-rounded, and corporate DHS intelligence professionals.

 

Law Enforcement

• Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) College Intern Program provides a unique opportunity for college students, majoring in Criminal Justice or a related field, to participate in a federal law enforcement training environment.

• CBP Explorer Program offers opportunities in character building, good citizenship, and fitness for young men and women ages 14 through 21. CBP has Law Enforcement Explorer Posts both at ports of entry and at Border Patrol sectors, which provide Explorers with practical training and hands-on experience in Federal law enforcement-related activities.

 

Legal

• The General Counsel's Law Student Summer Volunteer Program is a volunteer program over the course of the summer that provides law students the opportunity to work on assignments that offer both valuable experience and substantial individual responsibility in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters located in Washington, D.C.

• The General Counsel's Legal Externship (Volunteer) Program is a volunteer program during the fall or spring semesters offering law students the opportunity to gain valuable professional experience and to earn academic credit while working in the headquarters Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security located in Washington, D.C.

 

Public Affairs

• The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) Internship Program provides students the opportunity to support OPA's mission of managing external and internal communications for the department. OPA responds to national media inquiries, maintains and updates the department's website (DHS.gov), writes speeches for principals and coordinates speaking events for department officials. We foster strategic communication throughout the department and with external stakeholders. We manage the department's organizational identity program, which includes use of the DHS seal and related guidelines. OPA oversees the department's employee communication activities, which includes town hall meetings between management and employees, and an intranet site. Our incident communications program guides overall federal incident communication activity and coordinates with state, local, and international partners to ensure accurate and timely distribution of information to the public during a crisis.

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For more information, visit: http://media.wix.com/ugd//24369e_ac016ea4db0eea35d3619fecdffe23e0.pdf

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