It was a year of record-breaking success for Heritage’s fellowship programs.

Eighty-one staffers completed the Heritage Congressional Fellowship, the program’s largest class yet. More than 600 staffers have graduated since the program began in 2002.

I am thrilled to announce that 81 congressional staffers have graduated from the Heritage Congressional Fellowship this year! This is our largest graduating class ever! Learn more about the program: https://t.co/Ed4xAiOuYe pic.twitter.com/u7V22DLu1K

— Kay Coles James (@KayColesJames) October 5, 2018

The Heritage Congressional Fellowship is an annual educational program designed to teach junior congressional staff the first principles of conservatism necessary to understand the deeper issues behind political debates. The program also provides relevant policy sessions and vital practical job skills for an effective career on and off Capitol Hill.

“When you begin working on the Hill for a member of Congress, you’re thrown into the thick of it and expected to figure it out as you go along,” says Heritage’s David Azerrad, director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics and AWC Family Foundation fellow. “We’re making sure that staffers understand what it means to be a conservative, how conservatives think about public policy, and how Congress actually operates.”

Other speakers in previous sessions include prominent conservatives such as Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, former Attorney General Ed Meese, former presidential speechwriter Marc Thiessen, Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro, Christina Hoff Sommers of the American Enterprise Institute, and other leading policy experts and intellectuals.

Charles Correll, a recent fellowship graduate and staff assistant for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, says that there is nothing else like the Heritage Congressional Fellowship on Capitol Hill.

“I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to teach us what we all need to know to be good staffers: conservative principles, the nuts and bolts of policy and how Congress actually works,” says Correll.

Heritage’s George C. Marshall Fellowship also saw tremendous success in 2018. The Marshall Fellowship is designed to enhance young professionals who work in national security.

“We had 22 extraordinary young fellows representing a cross section of Washington, D.C.: Congress, government, nonprofits, private sector, and academia who participated in a dynamic program of prominent guest lectures, trips, and security simulations. By the end, it resulted in a much greater appreciation of U.S. grand strategy and strategic leadership among the group,” said Thomas Spoehr, director of Heritage’s Center for Defense.

The Marshall Fellowship introduces participants to the skills, knowledge, and attributes that contribute to shaping American grand strategy and leadership by engaging with some of the nation’s foremost intellectuals in national security and foreign policy.

Noteworthy speakers during the course of the fellowship include Council on Foreign Relations adjunct senior fellow Paul Lettow, former White House homeland security adviser Frances Townsend, and former CIA Director Michael Hayden.

The Congressional Fellowship runs from February through the end of September, and the Marshall Fellowship runs from March through October.