In order to qualify, you must meet the general experience requirements described in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions, Professional and Scientific Positions
BASIC EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENT:
Bachelor's degree in computer science
or bachelor's degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of
mathematics, statistics, and
computer science. At least
15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. All academic degrees and course work must be from accredited or pre-accredited institutions.
*The CSA PAQ program requires a degree with overall GPA standing of 2.95 /3.0 or higher. All qualifications must be met prior to August 2026. This must be from an accredited college or university:
- Meet the qualification standards of the position
- Must be at least 16 years of age
- A U.S. citizen or a national (resident of American Samoa or Swains Island)
- Must sign a mobility agreement
1.
GS-7: You must have completed or will complete a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's from an accredited institution AND must have documented Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) at the undergraduate level in the following:
a) Grade Point Average
2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on your official transcript or as computed based on 4 years of education or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of curriculum; OR 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in your major field or the required courses in your major field completed during the final 2 years of your curriculum.
2.
GS-9: You must have completed 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree or one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least a GS-07 at the graduate level in the following:
a) Grade Point Average -
2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on your official transcript or as computed based on 4 years of education or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of curriculum; OR 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in your major field or the required courses in your major field completed during the final 2 years of your curriculum. If more than 10 percent of total undergraduate credit hours are non-graded, i.e. pass/fail, CLEP, CCAF, DANTES, military credit, etc. you cannot qualify based on GPA.