Roosevelt Scholars

In May 2008, Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) introduced the Roosevelt Scholars Act, legislation to create a civilian ROTC program by offering graduate-level scholarships in mission-critical fields in exchange for a federal service commitment. The bill enjoyed bipartisan support and had twenty-four cosponsors.

The legislation gained significant visibility in March, 2009, when Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Voinovich (R-OH) and Collins (R-ME) filed the Roosevelt Scholars Act as a floor amendment (Senate Amendment #700) to the Serve America Act, the largest national service bill in years. The amendment would have created undergraduate and graduate scholarships in exchange for a federal service commitment. In the end, the senators elected not to bring the amendment up for a vote.

Momentum continues to build. More than 100 leaders of colleges and universities, nonprofits, associations and good government organizations have signed a letter of support which is circulating on Capitol Hill. Representative Price is preparing to introduce the Roosevelt Scholars Act of 2009 in the House, and the amendment’s sponsors in the Senate have agreed to work hard to make sure that this legislation receives full consideration.

Sign the Roosevelt Scholars Petition!

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What is the Roosevelt Scholars Act?

The Roosevelt Scholars Act would create a scholarship program to fund education in mission-critical fields in exchange for a federal service commitment. The Act would establish a small foundation to administer the scholarships (tuition and living expenses) of up to $60,000 per year, for a maximum of five years, for students to complete a degree in high-skill, high-need fields including engineering, information technology, foreign languages and public health. In return, these scholars will commit to three to five years of service in a federal government agency. The model is similar to the military's ROTC program, which has proven to be an outstanding source of new talent for our nation's armed forces.

The Roosevelt Scholars program would incentivize more of the talented young people our government needs to enter the federal civil service. The program is necessary because our federal government faces an unprecedented workforce crisis as experienced workers begin to retire and the pipeline of talent available to replace them continues to thin. Ultimately, the Roosevelt Scholars program would help restore prestige to federal service by raising awareness about federal opportunities and rebranding the government as a place where the best and brightest go to make a difference.

Legislative text of H.R. 6160 »

What organizations have expressed support for the Roosevelt Scholars Act?

Support for the Roosevelt Scholars Act is growing every day! Many college and university presidents and nonprofit and association leaders have signed on to a letter of support to Representatives Price. Other organizations have opted to write their own personalized letter of support to Members of Congress. If your organization would like to add its name to our master letter please contact Caroline Pettit at cpettit@ourpublicservice.org.

Master letter of support for Representatives Price
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Additional letters of support

Arkansas State University
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Duke University
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Mount St. Mary's University
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Yale University
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What can you do to help?

If you would like to show your support for this program, please call, email, or write a letter to your Senators or Representative.

U.S. Capitol Switchboard
(202) 224-3121

U.S. House of Representatives
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U.S. Senate
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Sample letter of support for students »
Sample general letter of support »

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