School Grants & College Scholarships

If you want to find the most prestigious national scholarships you should pay your attention to the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship. Congress started this program in 1986, because they wanted to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater. This famous senator spent 30 years as a U.S. Senate. Only those students who want to attend college and pursue their future careers in science, math, and engineering fields can be awarded by this scholarship.

This scholarship is not given to high school seniors, it was founded specially for those students who are sophomores and juniors in college and who are not only planning but already pursuing one of the chosen career fields. The maximum money amount which can be given to the participants of this program is $7,500 per academic year. Usually there are only 300 students who receive the award each year.

There are two qualifications the candidates must qualify:

1)     the student must show significant merit. The preference is given to the students with high GPAs;

2)     financial need is very important, too. Students in great need are more likely to receive the assistance.

There is extreme competition for this scholarship, that is why it is not easy to get it. Students must be nominated by the Universities, they also have a limit of four nominees each year. Such schools which have fine science programs, like Princeton, have the highest number of students who received the award.

The nominees for the award are determined by the Foundation Board of Trustees. With intent to determine the nominees who will make the most impact on the fields of science, math, and engineering this body look at such merits as total picture of a student’s interests, field of study, career objectives, and others. This scholarship program was founded specially to keep America strong in these areas with the help of excellent minds.

If you are a student who wants to participate in this scholarship program, you must focus strongly on your grades. Be sure that you took all possible advanced science and math classes in high school. The college you choose must be famous for its strong science and math program. Try your best while studying there.

If you are already nominated you should explain honestly and carefully your career carefully, it is important to explain the way and the efficiency of you in chosen fields. But even this do not guarantee success, because this important scholarship usually awarded at the whim of the board, but all these efforts will help you to qualify for other science and math scholarships or grants.

One of the most prestigious scholarships is the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program. It is federally funded and is administered at the state level. You can get the scholarship through this program in various state educational agencies. This scholarship is based on merit, only high school seniors can be awarded with this money to use them on their educational expenses.

If you are a high school senior or graduate and you are already accepted into the university or to the college, you can apply for the Robert C. Byrd scholarship. You also must show high academic achievement and must continue study well during their postsecondary education. You also must provide the letter of acceptance from your college during the application process.

If you decided to apply for the Byrd scholarship you must go to your state educational agency. It is important to know that each agency has its own deadline. You have to request an application package from the agency and carefully fill it out according to the instructions

You must meet certain educational standards if you want to receive the scholarship:

- you must be in the top 5 percent of your graduating classes;

- if there are 60 or less students in your class, you must hold a ranking of 1, 2, or 3;

- usually your GPA must be 3.50 on a 4.00 scale;

- you must have a combined SAT score of 1150 or higher or an ACT score of 25 or higher.

The amount of money you can receive through the Byrd scholarship program depends on some conditions and usually varies. Usually it is $1,500 per successful applicant. But the amount varies and some students can receive more while others receive less. 6,300-6,500 awards are given out each year through this program. If you still have a high grade point average and still attend the school full time, your scholarship can be renewed for up to three additional years.

The program helps student from 1985. At first this scholarship was non-renewable. But later in 1993 successful applicants get an opportunity to renew their scholarship over a four-year program. If you want to apply for this program you should be a legal resident of the state, you also must attend school within the United States. It is not allowed for the applicants to have any kind of dept to the federal government that is currently in default, students with past drug offenses are not allowed in most states.