The Graduate Scholarship Program is a financial needs-based initiative where you will be exposed to intelligence challenges while performing meaningful work that relates to your graduate studies.
About the Job
The Summer 2025 application period for the Graduate Scholarship Program has closed. Please check back in Early 2025 for Summer 2026 application information.
The Graduate Scholarship Program is a financial needs-based initiative that offers graduate students an unmatched experience in a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. Graduate students, serving as scholarship recipients with CIA, attend an accredited college/university on a full-time basis and work during summer breaks at the Agency.
While working at CIA, you will be exposed to real intelligence challenges while performing meaningful work that relates to your graduate studies. An IT major, for example, might be given increasingly complex projects involving sophisticated computer systems. An engineering major might help produce a piece of state-of-the-art equipment. A finance major could be involved in developing and analyzing budgets for a worldwide operation, while a foreign language major might be instrumental in translating documents for U.S. policymakers. An international relations major might brief a senior policymaker and, as a final example, a human resources major could have the opportunity to develop and implement personnel policies and procedures.
Because CIA invests in scholarship recipients, accepting an offer means continued employment with the Agency for a specified time frame. You are required to work at the Agency after college graduation for a period equal to 1.5 times the length of the college sponsorship you received from CIA. Students who leave earlier are required to reimburse the U.S. Government for their tuition. All positions require relocation to the Washington, DC area during summer work tours.
Who You’ll Work With
At the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), we recognize our Nation’s strength comes from the diversity of its people. People from a broad range of backgrounds and viewpoints work at CIA, and our diverse teams are the reason we can keep our country safe.
Read more about diversity and inclusion
What You’ll Get
Stokes Scholars will receive:
- Agency-wide benefits
- Tuition assistance up to $18,000 per academic year for tuition, mandatory fees and books; STEM majors receive tuition up to $25,000 per academic year
- Competitive year-round salary
- Employment every summer and onboard as full-time officer after graduation
- Undergraduate and /or post-graduate degrees in authorized field of study
- Partial per diem subsistence expenses (for non-local Scholars)
As a CIA employee, you’ll also get the satisfaction of knowing your work is part of something bigger than yourself. Our work is driven by one mission: to keep our Nation safe. Every day is an opportunity to enhance U.S. national security.
Learn more about working at CIA
Minimum Qualifications
Stokes Scholars must:
- Exhibit financial need as demonstrated by the adjusted gross annual household income (AGI) ceiling up to $120,000; if the scholar has not been listed as a dependent for the previous tax year, the AGI ceiling is up to $50,000
- Accept Stokes scholarship funds and sign a Continued Service Agreement that obligates you to work at the CIA 1.5 years for every year that you are in the Stokes Scholarship Program
- Work a full-time schedule (40 hours/week) for a minimum of 12 weeks each summer in the WMA until graduation and onboard as full-time officer
- Maintain competitive GPA (minimum 3.0 on a 4.0 scale)
- Remain in full-time status as a student while in the program (min. 12 credit hours for undergraduate programs and 9 credit hours for graduate programs)
- Continue to major in the degree that aligns with the occupation for which you were admitted into the program
- Provide transcripts within 30 days of each semester completion
- Maintain a high standard of work performance, attendance, and conduct at both school and work
- Ability to meet the minimum requirements for joining CIA, including U.S. citizenship and a background investigation
Note: Failure to comply with any of the requirements may affect continued participation in the program.
Desired Qualifications
- Academic excellence in core subject areas
- Relevant practical or job experience in your field of interest
- Demonstrated leadership qualities
- Genuine interest in contributing to CIA’s mission
- Proficiency in a foreign language. Languages of interest are listed on our Foreign Language Incentive Program page.
Annual Submission Window
March 1 through June 30, 11:59PM Eastern Time