OPM launches e-Scholar site

E-Scholar site

The Office of Personnel Management launched a Web site March 28 designed to give students a single place to go to find information on scholarships, internships, fellowships and other programs offered by the federal government.

The e-Scholar site (studentjobs.gov/e-scholar.htm) includes about $400 million worth of educational scholarships, and the list will continue to grow, said Barry Williams, a White House Fellow who developed the site for OPM. "We want to make e-Scholar a $2 billion site," he said. "We've only scratched the surface" of what is available to students.

The site lists domestic and international opportunities for students from high school through graduate school.

For instance, under scholarships, the site points people to the Scholarship for Service program, which awards scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students studying information assurance in exchange for work in the government after they graduate.

OPM earlier this week launched a separate Web site (www.sfs.opm.gov) for the Scholarship for Service program, designed to help match students with agencies.

At the e-Scholar site, students also can find information on fellowships, such as the White House Fellows program, which offers students paid, one-year stints working for a senior government official.

The site "is an enormous resource" that will help spread the word about the fellows program, said Jocelyn White, director of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.

The site enables students to not only find information about the scholarship or program they are interested in, but they also can apply online if the agency that is running the program supports that capability, Williams said.

The e-Scholar site is "invaluable to students" who must navigate the maze of federal opportunities, said Ambassador Leonard Spearman, executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. "This is an ever-changing world."

"Now I no longer have to hang my head in shame when a young person comes to me and says they want to work for the federal government but don't know where to begin," said Kay Coles James, OPM director.