Payne Fellowship Program

The USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship Program identifies and trains outstanding individuals for careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Named in honor of longtime development champion, the late Congressman Donald M. Payne, the program is funded by USAID and administered by Howard University. The Payne Fellowship encourages the application of members of historically underrepresented groups in international development careers and those with financial need. The Payne Fellowship will select 15 Fellows for the 2022 Cohort.

Selected through a rigorous nationwide competition every year, Payne Fellows attend U.S. graduate programs throughout the country, participate in professional development activities in Washington D.C. and complete internships on Capitol Hill and at USAID Missions abroad.

Eligibility Requirements:

US citizenship
Seeking admission to a two-year graduate school program at a US university in the fall of 2022. Applicants may be in the senior year of their undergraduate studies, graduating by May 2022, or they may be college graduates with years of professional experience
Cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale at the time of application

Program benefits:

An orientation to the program and the USAID Foreign Service at Howard University in Washington, DC
Support for graduate studies of up to $38,000 per year for a two-year program
Up to $10,000 per year in stipend, housing, transportation and related expenses for summer internships
Mentoring from a USAID Foreign Service Officer
Employment in the USAID Foreign Service for those who successfully complete the program and meet Foreign Service entry requirements, in accordance with applicable laws and USAID policy, with each Fellow committing to a minimum of five years of service

Website: https://www.paynefellows.org

Program Contact: PayneFellows@Howard.edu

About the USAID Foreign Service:

USAID Foreign Service Officers work on the front lines of some of the most pressing global challenges of our times, including poverty, injustice, disease, environmental degradation, and conflict. They are part of a corps of officers who have worked for more than fifty years to make lasting improvements to the lives of millions of people around the globe. USAID Foreign Service Officers are stationed in Washington and in more than 75 countries in five regions worldwide – Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Eurasia, Asia, and the Middle East. They work alongside colleagues from other U.S. government agencies to achieve our country’s foreign policy objectives in democracy and governance, economic growth and trade, peace and security, education and health, conflict mitigation and humanitarian response.