The Scholarship Programs Section (ScPS) under the Carlos P. Romulo School of Diplomacy (CPRSD) acts as the secretariat of the DFA Scholarship Committee.
It administers Foreign Scholarships and Training Programs (FSTP) offered directly to DFA officers and employees, and coordinates with the

  • Department of Education (DepEd) for teachers’ basic education;
  • Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for degree courses; and
  • Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for non-degree courses, sourced through the Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Upon receipt of the scholarship invitations from the embassy or donor institutions, ScPS determines whether the program should be offered to other government agencies, to other institutions or to the DFA only.

A.   For programs appropriate to DFA officers and employees only, ScPS sends out announcements in the form of a memorandum addressed to the heads of offices of the Department indicating the program details, application procedures, requirements, scholarship coverage and deadline. After the FSI Director’s approval, the announcement will be disseminated.

A.1.    For scholarship invitations which are not funded or partially funded, ScPS secures the approval of OUA through a Memorandum to request if Department funding can be made available for these programs prior to scholarship announcements.

Announcements are usually released two to three days after the receipt of scholarship invitations.
Application deadlines set by ScPS to DFA are often two weeks before the donor’s deadline to give an ample time for the preparations of the note verbale (with the proper initials and signature) and delivery to the embassies or donor institutions.

B.   For programs suitable to other government agencies, ScPS transmits the scholarship invitation to CHED for degree courses or to TESDA for non-degree courses. The said partner agencies are in-charge of disseminating the information to appropriate government agencies depending on the relevance of the program to the functions of the receiving institution.

B.1.    Transmittal letters are usually released two to three days after the receipt of scholarship invitations.

B.2.   Application deadlines set by ScPS to TESDA/CHED are often two weeks before the donor’s deadline to give an ample time for the preparations of the note verbale (with the proper initials and signature) and delivery to the embassies or donor institutions.

B.3.    In some cases, ScPS sets the deadline one week before the donor’s deadline if the Department received the invitation on a short notice to give the partner agencies enough time to conduct the application and the screening process.

C.   For programs which have a pre-determined government agency as stated by the donor institution or the Chairman of the DFA Scholarship Committee, ScPS transmits the scholarship invitation to the specified agency in two to three days after the receipt. Application deadlines are often set two weeks before the donor’s deadline.

Scholarship Application Procedure (one month)

I. For programs open to DFA officers and employees only, applicants are required to:

  1. Submit an endorsement letter signed by their respective head of office addressed to the FSI Director and furnish the Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) a copy.
  2. Apply for admission to the study program, depending on the   requirement of the school/university or the donor institution by:
    1. Individual submission of the prescribed online or printed application form
    2. Submission of a copy of the completed application requirements, resume and other relevant documents to the FSI.

Selection

  1. For study programs with limited slots, the ScPS will arrange a deliberation meeting or an ad referendum for the DFA Scholarship Committee to select the principal nominee and alternate.
  2. For those with open slots, FSI will endorse all applicants, provided they have met the minimum requirements to the embassy/organizer for the final selection process.
  3. The ScPS endorses the nominees to the embassy/organizer.
  4. The organizer deliberates and selects the most qualified participants from among the nominees.

II. For programs open to DFA and other government agencies, applicants are  required to:

  1. Coordinate with TESDA on short-term study programs and CHED on long-term study programs for the basic requirements;
  2. Undergo the screening process and interview portion; and
  3. Submit other required documents after passing the TESDA or CHED screening processes.

III. For direct applications to organizer/donor country supervised by its respective embassy, applicants should:

  1. Bring the requirements specified;
  2. Undergo an interview at the embassy/mission; and
  3. Take the written and/or oral examination administered by the embassy/mission.The ScPS prepares the formal communication to the embassies of the donor countries through notes verbale endorsing the names of the applicants nominated for specific scholarships and training programs.

View DFA Scholarship Guidelines