The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation awards merit-based scholarships to college students who plan to pursue careers in government or other areas of public service. Recognizing excellent scholarship, leadership potential and public service commitment, Truman Scholarships provide support for graduate or professional school study toward a degree that will prepare a recipient for a public service career.
The Truman seeks candidates who:
have extensive records of public and community service;
- have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills; and
- are committed to careers in government or other areas of public service.
Each Truman Scholarship provides funding in support for graduate study toward a public service-related degree, participation in leadership development programs, and access to internships arranged by the Foundation.
The Truman Scholarship celebrates 50 years this year, check out the Foundation's new video to mark this milestone!
learn more: fall 2025 Truman Foundation webinars
2026 Webinars:
- Truman Application Open House, Wednesday, October 8, 2025: JOIN HERE.
- The Truman Foundation will kick off the 2026 application cycle with an Open House virtual information session, including a number of recent Scholars discussing their application experiences as well as an overview of the program and selection criteria.
- Truman Candidate Webinar, Wednesday, November 12, 2025: JOIN HERE.
- Truman Candidate Webinar, Wednesday, December 3, 2025: JOIN HERE.
Eligibility
Truman Scholarship candidates must be U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals who are full-time juniors at four-year undergraduate institutions and in the top quarter of their class. "Junior” here means a student who plans to continue full-time undergraduate study and is in their second or third year of collegiate study who expects to graduate during the following academic year.
Candidates must also be nominated into the national competition from their undergraduate institution.
University nomination
Columbia University may nominate a total of seven eligible undergraduates for consideration each year (four traditional students and three transfer students). Students in Columbia College, Columbia Engineering and the School of General Studies who will be current juniors at the time of application are eligible. The internal campus competition places students into consideration for nomination. Students may not apply directly for this fellowship without first having been nominated.
All application materials, within both the URF and Truman portals, must be completed by the internal deadline provided below. In addition, you should arrange for three letters of recommendation to be submitted directly to ugrad-urf@columbia.edu by this internal deadline as well.
HOW TO APPLY
To initiate the application process, take the following steps:
- Review program eligibility above (or here) to confirm you are eligible to apply (if you have any questions about your eligibility, contact URF!);
- Email URF to request a login to the Truman application portal (within your email URF, please include your name (preferred name), uni, school (CC, GS, SEAS), confirmation of junior status, and specifying whether you are a transfer student - noting, dual degree students are considered transfer students for the Truman Scholarship).
- Register your Truman candidacy with Columbia by clicking the "Start Your Application" above on this page.