Do you know a talented high school senior who has been successful in your math or computer science courses? Is the cost of college a barrier to your student’s accessibility to higher education?
If yes, then be sure to tell your students about STEM CONNECT, a new scholarship program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Southeast Community College and Western Nebraska Community College that is funded by the National Science Foundation. Depending on financial need, the student might receive a scholarship worth up to $8,000 per year.
The application process for the STEM CONNECT scholarship varies between UNL, SCC and WNCC. At UNL, the application for STEM CONNECT is available through the student's MyRed account under the undergraduate admissions tab. This application is open to all applied or current students who will graduate from high school in May 2020 (or before). Applicants enrolling at UNL also must declare a major in mathematics, computer science, computer engineering or software engineering before the scholarship is awarded, in order to be eligible.
Students applying to SCC or WNCC (and not UNL) will apply for the scholarship via the CSMCE application portal at http://go.unl.edu/scimathapply. The same process applies to current students at SCC and WNCC.
Students enrolling at SCC or WNCC need to enter the Academic Transfer program with STEM-focused career goals that include taking either a math or computer science course each semester. Our Frequently Asked Questions site, https://scimath.unl.edu/stem-connect/faq, describes more about how to apply.
An additional requirement for the scholarship includes an assessment of need, and therefore, applicant eligibility is determined, in part, by FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. For more information regarding the FAFSA application process, go to: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa.
STEM CONNECT Scholars will be awarded a renewable scholarship, with a maximum of $8,000 per year, up to four years at UNL or two years at SCC or WNCC followed by an additional two years following the student’s transfer to UNL. We hope to offer up to 62 STEM CONNECT Scholarships to first and second-year students between our three campuses.
As a federally funded scholarship program, we are especially interested in recruiting a diverse group of STEM CONNECT Scholars including first generation students, women, underrepresented minorities and rural students. Recipients of STEM CONNECT will not only receive monetary aid, but they also get the opportunity to work closely with both faculty and peer mentors. STEM CONNECT Scholars will be a part of a community of like-minded peers, providing them with valuable networking opportunities and the chance to build a common identity through this program. STEM CONNECT will challenge this group of students to develop their leadership potential to better aid them in diversifying the STEM field post-graduation.
We invite you to encourage your talented seniors to check out our website and complete a FAFSA to learn whether they are eligible for financial support. If you would like for us to send one or more of your students a personal invitation to apply to our scholarship program, send their name and contact information to nebraskamath@unl.edu.
For more information about STEM CONNECT, go to our website, https://scimath.unl.edu/stem-connect. If you or your students have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at nebraskamath@unl.edu.