The Center for Transportation Workforce Development manages activities that integrate transportation into college and university programs striving to increase the number of post-secondary students interested in pursuing transportation-related careers. The Center provides management, leadership, and coordination for student transportation education programs to support the development of highly skilled individuals for the transportation workforce.
The Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) awards fellowships to students pursuing degrees in transportation-related disciplines (PDF or HTML). This program advances the transportation workforce by helping to attract the nation's brightest minds to the field of transportation, encouraging future transportation professionals to seek advanced degrees, and helping to retain top talent in the U.S. transportation industry.
From its initial support of graduate research fellowships in 1983, to the current program's inception in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, the DDETFP has awarded over $50 million to the brightest minds in the transportation industry. From this investment, fellows have pushed for innovative change in multimodal areas from highway infrastructure to aviation to maritime, making the industry more effective and efficient. Fellows pursue careers in academia, private industry, and public service, becoming leaders across the nation.
The DDETFP is an annual program and information on how to apply is posted through a notice of funding opportunity on Grants.gov when the award cycle opens. The categories of Fellowships include:
DDETFP awards are merit-based and generally result in 150-200 grants annually, subject to the availability of funds.
Part of the DDETFP supports Fellows to participate in the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting and in 2018 we celebrated the 25th Research Showcase anniversary as highlighted in a recent Public Roads magazine article.
Fellows, faculty advisors, and staff gathered for group photograph during TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
The Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups provides college and university students with on-the-job work experience while working on current transportation-related topics and issues. The program seeks to increase the number of college students interested in pursuing transportation related careers. The program's paid summer internships are open to all qualified applicants, however the primary focus is to provide opportunities for qualified women, persons with disabilities, and historically underrepresented members of diverse groups.
The National Summer Transportation Institute Program provides grants to Universities and Colleges to develop programs that better promote awareness of Science, Technology, Engineering and Match (STEM) educational and career opportunities among disadvantaged and at-risk middle and high school students around the country.
The program aims to develop a diverse, well-qualified workforce and promote greater awareness of career opportunities within the transportation industry.
