During my seminars in Boston, I talked quite a bit about public policy fellowships that offer students and recent graduates an opportunity to work in local, state or federal government. These programs include the New York City Urban Fellows Program (I’m a 2001-2 alum), the City Hall Fellows Program in San Francisco and Baton Rouge, and the Capital City Fellows Program in Washington, DC.

I also recently learned about The Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the Havard Kennedy School sponsors a Public Policy Summer Fellowship for graduate students to spend a summer in key state and local agencies in the Greater Boston area. Students from all graduate schools in Greater Boston are eligible, including Tufts, Boston University, and MIT. Fellows participate in a weekly seminar series with leading practitioners and scholars and receive a $7000 stipend for the summer. Fellows have worked on a diverse range of projects that include: school reform plans, environmental risk assessment, public-private partnerships, community development projects, performance-management systems, racial bias in the juvenile justice system, health coverage for foster children, and reduction plans for greenhouse gases. The Rappaport Institute also offers a Summer Doctoral Public Policy Fellowship specifically for doctoral students.

Application deadlines for the 2012 fellowship programs have passed, but keep these programs in mind when considering fellowships next years. Applications deadlines for these programs normally fall between December – January for a fellowships beginning in the summer or fall.