Make civil service plan A

In Montgomery County, Maryland, where I grew up, the federal government was the backbone of the local economy. Over 10,000 people work at each of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Naval Hospital, with another nearly 10,000 employed by the Food and Drug Administration. Over one in five jobs in the county are in the government at some level — federal, state, or local. Civil service is woven into the fabric of the community.

My dad works at the NIH, and years ago my uncle worked on the first sequencing of the human genome there, so the idea of a career in public service always felt like a good option, and even a prestigious one. But when I got to Princeton, I was struck by how many of my classmates saw limited options beyond consulting and private sector work. Among students of all majors — people who are told that their degrees have “no applications,” like English majors, and those who have clear private pathways as well, like economics and math majors — there is a lack of vision about how to translate their skills into meaningful work for the public good.

Our potential is limited by our imagination, and our imagination is limited by what we have seen around us. Many of us have grown up not seeing the world of civil service jobs. It is an entire universe that goes practically unnoticed on Princeton’s campus. Princeton should do more to raise them up — to make them available, accessible, and attractive to students.

Studying climate science? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a place for you. English major? Every government agency needs your incredible writing and communication skills (my English major friend who loves rural America wrote speeches for the Agriculture Secretary for a decade and loved it). Studying medicine? The FDA, the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Medicare, Medicaid, and many other agencies offer you a way to use your skills to improve public health and save lives outside the profit-obsessed, vulture-like private health system. Studying economics? The Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and the Council of Economic Advisors want your skills in shaping policy that affects hundreds of millions of people, and other agencies employ hundreds of economists as well, not to mention Congress and the White House. Studying history? The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. does amazing research and exhibits, and the National Archives needs people to document and preserve the nation’s history.

Although most government jobs won’t pay you the six-figure salary directly out of undergrad that many consulting companies will, government jobs, especially federal jobs, pay well over time. Right out of college, Princeton alumni would probably start at a federal grade of “GS-7” (entry-level jobs for people with BAs and “Superior Academic Achievement”), and our salaries would likely range from about $56,000 to almost $73,000 (if we lived in the D.C. area — there’s a regional adjustment for cost of living). Get a Master’s degree first, and you’ll start around $68,000 to $89,000. With a doctorate, you’d probably get $82,000 to $107,000 to start off.

Some make even more than what’s offered by the standard GS (General Schedule) levels: If you qualify for “critical position pay” — which some Princeton graduates with certain in-demand technical skills almost certainly will later in their careers — you could qualify for the up to $221,000 salaries on the table “to recruit or retain … exceptionally well qualified” individuals. If you’re a medical doctor, they make an exception to the normal caps, allowing you to be paid up through $300,000. Even if you start at a regular rate, if you stay in the government and get standard promotions, you can eventually rise to making almost $200,000. That’s not to mention benefits including healthcare, retirement and childcare subsidies.

Yet at Princeton’s career fairs and in the coursework, civil service opportunities are marginalized. At the last career fair, only seven of the 99 employers fell into the government category and most of these were from state agencies in New Jersey. The only federal government agencies that did show up were security and defense: the FBI, the State Department, the US Navy, and the Marine Officer Program. Where are the federal scientific agencies? The economic policymakers? The communicators of our shared history? There are a few more available through Princeton’s PICS internship, as three federal agencies are listed: the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Justice. But this is still far from the full range of government jobs.

And this problem of the absence of civil service goes further than just the careers we are offered. It is evident in what Princeton is teaching as well. Take my department, economics: we have not offered an undergraduate class mainly on government policy (taxes, spending, regulation, or monetary policy) since Spring 2020 (Economic Inequality and the Role of Government). Just one class currently offered focuses on market failure. There’s not much public-sector-oriented in macroeconomics currently offered at the undergraduate level, although there are some topic-area microeconomics classes (economics and law, the environment, disease, health, and agriculture). Instead, Princeton students learn about finance — we have offered Portfolio Theory and Asset Management all but one year since 2015.

This needs to change. Princeton should be helping students with the specific training and vision to thrive and succeed in civil service. The University should promote these careers as a prestigious calling worth devoting ourselves to. At career fairs and recruiting events, federal agencies across the full breadth of the federal government should have a visible presence on campus. Let’s get Jerome Powell ’75 to rep the Fed to Princetonians. Students shouldn’t have to chase these opportunities — the norm should be that civil service jobs are beating down our seniors' doors with competitive offers.

For the next generation of Princeton grads, public service should not be an obscure Plan B. It should be an honored and hyped Plan A — a path burnished with our own prestigious graduates, with a sense of purpose and a devotion to the common good. Princeton is missing an opportunity to cultivate that ethos of excellence in civic responsibility. It’s time for the University to shine a light on these noble careers — and it’s time for Princetonians to take them.

Eleanor Clemans-Cope (she/her) is a sophomore from Rockville, Md. studying economics. She spends her time making music with Princeton University Orchestra and the Triangle Club and good trouble with Sunrise Princeton. She can be reached on Twitter at @eleanorjcc or by email at eleanor.cc@princeton.edu.