MSI: General Information

Welcome to the Population Fellows Programs Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) Initiative. Established in 1994, the MSI Initiative is part of our programs’ efforts to diversify the pool of future leaders in international family planning/reproductive health and population-environment through outreach to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). Students from these schools have traditionally not had access to coursework in the specialized field of international population. We aim to fill this need by providing applied learning experiences that not only expose MSI students to the field but can help them transition to it and ultimately develop into the field’s leaders of tomorrow.

Our program has two main points of entry for MSI students. MSI undergraduates are eligible for summer internships during which they are exposed to the field through a variety of introductory-level professional projects. MSI graduate interns already have a graduate degree from a Minority-Serving Institution. Their internship package builds on this foundation with a three- to four-month agency assignment and supplementary coursework. The goal of the graduate internship is to help participants prepare for the prestigious two-year overseas Population and Population-Environment Fellowships.

These internships offer invaluable experience and contacts for those seeking a career in international family planning/reproductive health or population-environment. Each year, several undergraduate interns go on to pursue master’s degrees in the field.

The MSI Initiative aims to increase the number of HBCU, HSI, and TCU graduates who pursue careers in international family planning/reproductive health and population-environment.

Upper-level MSI undergraduates can receive summer internships that expose them to professional work in these fields.

Individuals with a graduate degree from an MSI can receive customized training packages combining short-term professional internships with appropriate coursework in preparation for a Population or Population-Environment Fellowship.

Organizations interested in having an intern work with them can learn more in the host agency section of our Web site.

Some have accepted professional positions upon completion of their internships, and more recently, former MSI undergraduate interns have received GAP Mini-Grants to deepen their technical skills while pursuing their graduate degrees.

MSI graduate interns regularly go on to complete fellowships and launch professional careers in the field. Former interns have taken subsequent positions at organizations such as Africare, Catholic Relief Services/Ethiopia, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International/Guinea, and USAID.