Located in the heart of Philadelphia, Drexel University is a great place to earn your master’s degree in engineering!   Drexel is committed to becoming “the most civically engaged university in the United States,” according to President John A. Fry.  In 2009, the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities named Drexel one of the top 10 institutions for community service in its report, “Saviors of Our Cities: Survey of Best College and University Civic Partnerships.”

The College of Engineering is able to provide an excellent opportunity for returning Peace Corps volunteers to increase their skills and knowledge in over 14 different technical areas.  Returning Peace Corps volunteers bring a wealth of experience and a real understanding of the global challenges faced by engineers today. Drexel University is located in an urban community that is rich in diversity where students can take advantage of our existing community partnerships and our graduate co-operative education option to satisfy the internship requirement for the Coverdell Fellows program. Some of our programs are especially well suited for a returning Peace Corps volunteer with a technical background such as the MS in Peace Engineering where students are able to apply their engineering skills to effect peace and conflict mitigation. The College of Engineering supports the mission of the Peace Corps and hopes to call ourselves home to many Coverdell Fellows in the future.

The Tuition Award is from the College of Engineering’s Dean’s Fund in support of this program.

Individual department or programs may offer additional awards. Applicants may reach out to the advisor directly or view the special opportunities page by CLICKING HERE.

We are encouraging students interested in Systems Engineering to read about a GAANN fellowship for MS students. This fellowship includes tuition and a stipend for qualified students.

Coverdell Fellows will need to satisfy at least 150 internship hours with a suitable organization as part of the cooperative education program or as an intern. Hours above this amount will vary depending on the student’s plan of study and the organization’s needs. Drexel University houses one of the largest co-operative education programs in the world, and these resources will be made available to the Fellows to assist in finding an internship.  A sampling of University resources include: The Lindy Center and The Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships. Organizations may include NGOs and CSOs in the region that have a history of working with the College of Engineering such as Goodwill Industries of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia or Lighthouse 1893 – two community organizations the College of Engineering partners with for community projects. If the student participates in the graduate coop program resources will be made available through the Steinbright Career Development Center (SCDC) and the student will satisfy both the coop and internship requirements concurrently. Although each organization’s need will vary, Fellows can expect to work with the organizations to assist in overcoming an engineering design challenge, develop a community education project or to generally apply their engineering skills.

A master’s degree prepares students for advanced positions in engineering that are technically focused and specialized. Some positions obtained by our Alumni with master’s degrees include:

• Chemical Engineering at Nike
• Sales team lead and Green Mountain Energy
• Environmental Science Officer at the Army National Guard
• Security Operational Analyst at Sony Corporation of America
• IT Risk Management and Ethical Hacker at Meditology Services
• Technology Analyst at Goldman Sachs
• Training Services Manager at The Boeing Company
• Senior Engineer at Pepco Holdings, Inc.
• Business Improvement Lead at Johnson & Johnson
• Program Manager at Microsoft
• Environmental Engineer at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Bioenvironmental Engineer at U.S. Air Force
• Research Scientist at NIST, INNL and LBNL
• Post-Doc at Harvard and University of Indiana at Urbana-Champaign
• Mechanical Designer at Stantec​

• Online application
• Personal Essay
• Resume or CV
• Letter(s) of Recommendation
• An official transcript, verified
• GRE scores (optional)

To start an application online please CLICK HERE.

To qualify for the Coverdell Fellowship students must be enrolled full-time in one of the face-to-face MS programs listed above. Students are permitted to take a maximum of one class per quarter online. Students in some degree programs may be eligible to participate in the graduate Coop program.