I assume they're targeting people who aren't competitive candidates for big high paying companies. There's plenty of super mediocre to bad developers out there (myself included) that would never stand a chance applying there. I've been developing software for a decade and the most I've ever made is $110k, and that was in high cost of living areas like Denver and Seattle.
How come? I would value a Stanford degree and working at Google on a resume. I wouldn’t know what to think about The White House or Air Force (like many posting on their site) on a resume.
It's specifically the Presidential or White House [0] fellowships that are prestigious, although if you have any job in the White House that's just as well.
What value an employer would derive from seeing that on someone's resume is probably the same as with Google or Stanford: it shows they got in, with the known/assumed quality of the institution vouching for their capability.
The pay cap is set in law, but you need people sufficiently invested in the mission to forgo a higher possible salary, which isn't possible for everyone (especially folks who might have to support their parents).
