This is your chance to help the College Student Pre-commissioning Initiative (CSPI) build the next generation of talented and diverse Coast Guard officers.
CSPI is a scholarship program that pays up to two academic years of college tuition for eligible students at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) who join the Coast Guard. Accepted students are enlisted into the service and complete basic training after the summer of their sophomore year. They receive operational exposure at different units and leadership training. After graduation, students attend Officer Candidate School (OCS).
In addition to tuition, selected students’ books and fees are covered by CSPI. The program provides a $3,600 monthly salary, medical benefits, and $10,000 per year for six years to repay student loans.
CSPI is expanding its reach to continue strengthening the Coast Guard’s ranks. The program is creating an extensive alumni database and seeking new ambassadors to represent the Coast Guard at a range of events from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities conference (HACU) to the Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) Awards.
CSPI ambassadors need not be alumni; the program welcomes any member, reservists, or civilian employee who wants to represent the Coast Guard and shape its future.
Lt. Jezel Huston is one of many enthusiastic non-alumni ambassadors. A reservist and marine inspector, they are most excited about “the diversity of the program. It tends to attract a lot of talent,” they told MyCG.
That success in recruiting outstanding students — and supporting their financial well-being and their careers — is what makes CSPI “the hidden gem of the Coast Guard,” according to Lt. j.g. Jessica Guerra, a CSPI alumna and ambassador. The program gave her an opportunity she never could have imagined. Before discovering CSPI, Guerra navigated the challenges of being a first-generation college student while working three jobs to support herself. The Coast Guard program offered her financial stability and a guaranteed career after graduation.
Fellow alumna Cmdr. Karin Evelyn agrees that the program is “such a door-opener,” she told MyCG. She emphasized that the program attracts standout candidates and brings them into a close-knit mentoring community. Reflecting on her decade as a CSPI ambassador, Evelyn recalled a student who left a career in the arts to join CSPI. That student was the honor graduate at boot camp and thrived at OCS, Evelyn said. “Just seeing this person from the interview to being in the Officer Corps — and watching how much of a difference she is going to make in the Coast Guard — is really rewarding.”
To update your information in the program database or register your interest, please complete the CSPI Ambassador Interest Form.
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