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Information for Current CISS Students

Internships, fellowships, career resources, and student-led opportunities

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Opportunities and Resources for ISS and GSS Students

Internships, fellowships, career resources, and student-led opportunities for ISS and GSS minors, certificate students, and graduate students at the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies.

As a designated Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (IC CAE), CISS prepares students for entry-level employment across the U.S. Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, federal civilian agencies, NGOs, and the national-security private sector. Use the sections below to find the opportunities that fit where you are in your degree.

Federal Scholarships, Fellowships, and Grants For Current CISS Students

Current CISS students can find more information on scholarships, fellowships, and grants below. 

Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program (PRISP) & related DIA awards — Tuition support and summer internships for students pursuing IC careers; coordinated through the Defense Intelligence Agency.

CIA Undergraduate Internship & Co-op Programs — Paid internship and co-op tracks; many require security-clearance processing and an early application window.

DoD SMART Scholarship-for-Service — Full tuition, an annual stipend, summer internships, and guaranteed civilian employment with the Department of Defense for STEM majors (including cybersecurity-relevant fields). 

Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program — Fully-funded summer overseas language institutes from the U.S. Department of State.

Boren Scholarships (undergrad) & Boren Fellowships (grad) — Up to $25,000 (undergrad) or $30,000 (grad) for intensive study of languages critical to U.S. national security, in exchange for one year of federal service. Ole Miss has produced record cohorts of Boren Scholars; ISS minors are strongly competitive applicants. Apply through the Office of National Scholarship Advisement.

Career & Job Resources

Most CISS graduates enter the U.S. Intelligence Community or federal government; others move into think tanks, NGOs, defense contractors, and private-sector risk and cybersecurity roles. The resources below help students prepare competitive applications and navigate the federal hiring and clearance process.

  • Ole Miss Career Center — Resume reviews, mock interviews, federal-resume guidance, and graduate-school advising.
  • Handshake — The Career Center's job and event platform — sign in with your WebID to filter for federal, defense, and intelligence employers and to register for on-campus career fairs.
  • Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA) — One-on-one help with Boren, Fulbright, Pickering, Rangel, Truman, and Critical Language Scholarship applications.

  • Most IC and many DoD positions require a Secret or Top Secret clearance with SCI access. The investigation (SF-86) examines citizenship, foreign contacts, finances, drug use, and personal conduct.
  • Foreign travel, foreign nationals on social media, and any drug use should be documented honestly — these are not automatic disqualifiers, but omissions are.
  • Plan a 6–18 month timeline between job offer and start date for clearance adjudication.
  • Read ODNI's Adjudicative Guidelines and the SF-86 walkthrough on gov/security before completing any clearance paperwork.

  • Federal resumes are typically 3–5 pages — include hours per week, supervisor contact, GS-equivalent duties, and quantified outcomes.
  • Bring a 1-page "academic" resume to CISS career events; bring a federal resume to USAJOBS applications.
  • Practice the IC's most common interview formats: structured behavioral (STAR-format) and analytic writing samples. Bring a redacted sample of your CISS coursework — Days of Intrigue products work well.

Student Organizations & Events

Hands-on experience is what distinguishes CISS graduates. The student organizations and recurring events below offer the closest thing to working in the IC before you join it — and they are open to undergraduate and graduate students alike.

COSA is a student-run analytic shop affiliated with CISS that publishes open-source intelligence (OSINT) products on contemporary national-security issues. Students rotate through analyst, editor, and team-lead roles, and produce monthly written assessments and briefings modeled on IC tradecraft. 

  • Who can join — All ISS and GSS minors; non-minors with relevant coursework may apply.
  • Time commitment — Weekly editorial meeting plus drafting time for one analytic product per cycle.
  • What you get — A published byline, structured tradecraft training, and a portfolio piece for IC applications.

 Learn more about COSA

The flagship CISS event: an annual weekend-long, immersive national-security crisis simulation in which students play intelligence analysts on agency teams (CIA, DIA, FBI, NSA, State INR, NSC). Teams produce intelligence assessments under time pressure as the scenario evolves. Days of Intrigue is the single best résumé item for students applying to summer IC internships.

Eligibility — Open to all CISS minors and graduate students enrolled in security-related coursework.

  • Independent study and research-assistant opportunities with CISS faculty on topics including counterterrorism, cyber operations, great-power competition, and WMD nonproliferation.
  • Capstone and thesis projects — graduate students should consult their committee chair early; undergraduates can pursue these through the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College or the Croft Institute.
  • Presenting research at academic conferences or university-sponsored events.

 

CISS Students Publish Intelligence on Montenegro Debt Traps

CISS Students Win National Award for Open-Source Intelligence

  • Monthly Speaker Series — practitioners from across the IC, military, diplomatic, and private-security communities.
  • IC career fairs and recruiter visits — coordinated with the Ole Miss Career Center; check Handshake.
  • Brown-bag workshops hosted by  CISS faculty.
  • National conferences (e.g., INSA, AFCEA, Intelligence Studies Section of ISA) — limited travel funding may be available; ask your faculty advisor.