**FIRST EMAIL**/2009 FIRST Scholarship News - February Update

***** Team Contacts: Please pass this info on to students, parents, and high school guidance counselors! ***

*** Pay special attention if you are on a team that used pneumatics, are on a team supported by Teradata Corporation, or are a female in your junior year. *****

**2009 FIRST Scholarship News – February Update **

Greetings Teams:

We have added ten NEW SCHOLARSHIPS since last month! There are now 130 *FIRST *scholarship providers who are offering college scholarships to students on FRC teams. Many of these are still available for the fall of 2009. So be sure to check out the *FIRST *Scholarship web page (at www.usfirst.org/scholarships) and follow the link to the 2009 *FIRST *Scholarship Opportunities. Hint: You can sort the scholarship list by application deadline date by clicking on the Deadline column header.

New scholarships that have been added recently:

  • DeVry
    ** University** is generously offering four (4) half-tuition scholarships (valued up to $32,500 over 9 semesters) and 25 scholarships for $1,500/semester (renewable up to $13,500 over 9 semesters) for any course of study. There are over 90 DeVry campuses throughout the US and Canada. Application deadline is 5/1/09. - Fluid Power Educational Foundation
    is offering two or more $500 non-renewable scholarships to seniors whose FRC team used pneumatics in their robot. This scholarship may be utilized for studying Engineering or Engineering Technology at an FPEF Key School (see details on website for list of FPEF Key schools). Application deadline is 5/31/2009. - International Fluid Power Society
    is offering two $2.500 non-renewable scholarships to seniors whose FRC team used pneumatics in their robot. This scholarship may be utilized for any ABET accredited Engineering or Engineering Technology program. Application deadline is 5/31/2009. - Metropolitan Community College – Business & Technology
    in Kansas City, Missouri is offering one scholarships of $500 non-renewable for any course of study. Application deadline is 4/1/09. - Metropolitan Community College – Maple Woods
    in Kansas City, Missouri is offering two full-time scholarships for 24 credit hours for one year (valued at $1,968) for any course of study. Application deadline is 4/1/09. - Missouri University of Science and Technology
    is offering four scholarships of $500/year renewable up to $2,000 for any course of study. Application deadline is 3/31/09. - Norfolk State University/BAE Systems
    is offering two scholarships for $2,500/year renewable up to $10,000. These scholarships are for any of the undergraduate Computer Science or Engineering programs. Application deadline is 6/1/2009. - Teradata Corporation
    is offering five $1,000 non-renewable scholarships to seniors who have participated on a Teradata sponsored FIRST team. This scholarship may be utilized for any STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) course of study. Application deadline is 4/15/2009. - University of Wisconsin-Madison
    is offering two scholarships for $1,500/year renewable up to $7,500 over five years. These scholarships are for study of any engineering discipline in their College of Engineering. Preference will be given to women or students from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups. Application deadline is 3/15/2009. - Virginia Tech/BAE Systems
    is offering one scholarship for $2,500/year renewable up to $10,000. This scholarship is for a female in her Junior year of high school who wants to attend Virginia Tech and study engineering. Application deadline is 4/1/2009. Changes to Existing Scholarships

  • Penn State/BAE Systems
    has added another scholarship and will now award two (2) scholarships for $2,500/year. Application deadline is 3/5/2009. - Purdue University/BAE Systems
    has added an additional $10,000 scholarship to their offering. They now are offering three scholarships, one for $15,000 and two for $10,000, payable over four years. (This is a correction to last month’s announcement.) The application deadline has been extended to 3/1/2009. - Purdue University-Computer Science

  • The application deadline has been extended to 4/1/2009. - University of Arizona/BAE Systems
    has added another scholarship and will now award two (2) scholarships for $2,500/year. Application deadline is 4/30/2009. - University of New Hampshire/BAE Systems
    has added another scholarship and will now award two (2) scholarships for $2,500/year. Application deadline is 3/1/2009. Scholarship Advice

  • Remember that some scholarships go unawarded because no one applies for them. If you fit the eligibility requirements for a scholarship, go for it!

  • Pay attention to those application deadline dates. There are close to 50 scholarships whose applications are due during the next month.
    What if you have just missed the application deadline date? Call the school or organization and ask if they will accept a late application. Some schools will accept applications even after the deadline date. It certainly can’t hurt to ask!

Go Teams!

All too many of these scholarships say “engineering or engineering technology”; would I be correct in assuming that computer science does not fall under this category? I guess even if it is included, since the school I’m going to doesn’t technically have an engineering program… that excludes these.

Don’t assume. Instead,

Call the school or organization and ask.]

Ah, yes, this is true. I usually forget such approaches… If I find information, I will share it here.