For Students

About the Eagleton Fellowship Program

What is the Eagleton Fellowship program?

The Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University offers interdisciplinary fellowships that provide select Rutgers graduate students the opportunity to further their understanding of government, public affairs, and the practice of politics, and connect the fellowship experience to their chosen fields of study. Eagleton fellowships provide varying stipends; some offer tuition remission.

Eagleton fellows work toward their graduate degrees without interruption; the one-year fellowships are designed to complement academic study. In recent years, fellows have come from diverse departments and schools on all New Brunswick, Newark and Camden campuses, representing more than a dozen departments in the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences and nine different graduate and professional schools reflecting a wide variety of interests and perspectives.

During the fall, Fellows enroll in a weekly, three-credit seminar in applied politics. The seminar is designed to help prepare Fellows for the spring semester when they are placed with an office in the New Jersey legislature, the Governor’s Office, an executive agency, or other government-related office for at least 15 hours a week. In the spring, Fellows also register for three credits of independent study to work with faculty members in their schools or disciplines, making the connection between their field of academic study and hands-on practical experience in government and politics.

Throughout the year, Eagleton gives students direct access to practitioners in state and national politics and government. These contacts serve to bridge the gap between the academic training of a graduate student and the everyday challenges of a life in politics and public affairs.

Graduate fellowships at the Eagleton Institute of Politics have been offered since 1956. Many of the program’s more than 1,500 education program alumni maintain strong contacts with the Institute, assisting in professional development and placement and providing an informal support system for new classes of fellows.