Fall 2025 Admits: See Scholarship Universe to apply! (Application opens 10/1/2024) The deadline to apply is March 1, 2025. Applications will be reviewed, interviews conducted, and the final candidate will be chosen in early April 2025.
Description
The Sackton Fellowship is designed to identify high-achieving students with a strong desire for a career in the public sector. Recipients become part of a small cohort of students who receive a $5,000 per semester scholarship. Recipients are also given the option to serve as a Graduate Student Assistant (GSA) for undergraduate-level courses in the School of Public Affairs, which provides another $5,000 per semester of financial support, as well as the opportunity to develop close ties with faculty teaching those courses. The fellowship requires a 2-year commitment and spans 4 academic semesters (summer semesters excluded).
Eligibility
- New fall admit
- Full-time student (9 or more credit hours per semester, fall and spring)
- 3.5 or higher cumulative undergraduate GPA
- If selected as a Sackton Fellow, the student must maintain a high level of work performance and academic achievement. Fellowship renewal is at the discretion of the School of Public Affairs every semester.
How to Apply
Applicants to the Sackton Fellowship program are accepted once a year for admission to begin each fall. Admission is competitive.
Students apply via Scholarship Universe. Students applying for the SPA general scholarship fund do not need to complete a separate application. However, students applying for the Marvin Andrews Fellowship must complete both applications.
The deadline to apply is March 1, 2025. Interviews of finalists will be conducted in late March, and Sackton Fellowship recipients will be notified in early April.
About Frank Sackton
Former Army Lt. Gen. Frank Sackton, founding dean of ASU’s College of Public Programs (now Watts College), played a vital role in the success of thousands of leaders ranging from Gen. Douglas MacArthur to many of today’s best public servants in the nation.
Sackton started his career at ASU in 1976. He was a professor emeritus in ASU’s School of Public Affairs, where he taught through the fall 2009 semester. During his time at ASU, he also served as special assistant to the university president and as athletic director.
“Frank’s life was emblematic of the spirit of service, from the military to the academy and even to the retirement community in which he spent his final years,” said Debra Friedman, university vice president and dean of the College of Public Programs (2005-2011). “He was a quiet, humble and effective organizer for the good of others, always asking, ‘How can I help?’”
In the 1970s, he served as special assistant to Arizona Gov. Jack Williams.
“As a graduate student in the College of Public Programs at ASU in the 1980s, I very much admired Lt. General Frank Sackton as one of the best professors I had during my time on the Tempe Campus. Frank voluntarily acted as a kind, wise and committed career advisor that took time out of his many activities to help me problem-solve as a young leader while I was clawing my way up the hierarchy at the Phoenix Police Department to become a commanding officer there and police chief in other cities around the country.” - Jerry A. Oliver Sr., Professor of Practice at the School of Public Affairs
“Frank’s hours in the classroom were among his happiest, and he always placed the highest value on his teaching,” Denhardt said. “But Frank was also a model of a life well-lived. If he were among us right now, I know he would look up and say, as he did every morning, ‘It’s a beautiful day today!’” - Robert. B. Denhardt, former Director of the School of Public Affairs
Questions? Email spa@asu.edu