AC Picks Up Grant for STEM Scholarships

"Amarillo College has been awarded a five-year grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaling $628,000 to provide scholarships and research opportunities for STEM majors beginning this fall.

To be considered for scholarship awards of as much as $3,000 for the upcoming fall semester, students planning to major in a STEM field at AC must submit a scholarship application no later than Aug. 7 and meet the following criteria:

• Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0.

• An applicant’s most-recent transcript which includes grades through summer 2017 will be verified to ensure GPA eligibility prior to an award.

• Applicants must be a declared STEM Major (Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Mathematics and/or Physics/Astronomy). Applicants will be disqualified if they have any declared major(s) in another field of study.

• All scholarship awards require awardees to enroll and pursue a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester at Amarillo College.

• Applicants are required to complete and submit the necessary Amarillo College financial aid forms and documentation, in order to be considered.

• Applicants must apply for Federal Financial Aid. Visit www.fafsa.ed.gov to complete the federal form.

• Applicants must be a United States citizen to receive this federal scholarship award.

Students can qualify for NSF scholarship awards for up to four semesters at AC.

To obtain a scholarship application, or to learn more about the NSF opportunity for STEM majors at AC, please contact Dr. Claudie Biggers or Jerica Pollard in the AC Biology Department at (806) 371-5080, or email Dr. Biggers at cjbiggers@actx.edu. The department is located in the Science Laboratory Building, suite 218, on the Washington Street Campus.

Dr. Biggers said financial need will be considered in awarding of the NSF scholarships, and recipients will get to participate in periodic weekend research projects in small groups that enable small teacher-to-student ratios.

“These scholarships can a big difference for many of our students,” Biggers said. “Amarillo College received a similar award from the National Science Foundation in 2011, and more than 90 percent of our scholarship recipients completed their degrees at AC and transferred to a university.”

-Amarillo College