2025 - 2026 First Year (Merit) Scholarship Program
Deadline: June 9, 2025 by 4:00 p.m.
Purpose
Eleven (11) scholarships of $3,000 will be awarded to support outstanding, incoming freshman, undergraduate students pursuing a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines that support NASA’s mission. (Preservice STEM education majors also qualify.)
Eligibility
- U. S. citizenship
- Full-time enrollment at DMACC, Drake, ISU, Loras, Morningside, UI, or UNI as of August 2025
- Majoring in STEM disciplines (includes preservice STEM education majors)
- Good academic standing (minimum 3.0/4.0 GPA)
Selection
Funding is competitively awarded based on complete application information including academic qualifications, and mentor letter of recommendation. To be considered, an applicant must describe leadership or service within your community and describe financial need. Awardees will need to provide an unofficial transcript upon graduation and agree to participate in a NASA longitudinal tracking process that surveys student progress and eventual employment outcome to help assess the effectiveness of our program and STEM retention efforts. Awardees will be required to attend the ISGC Spring Research Symposium in April 2026 (date TBD) and complete two surveys during the 2025-2026 academic year.
To Apply
As part of the application, you will be asked to upload your most recent unofficial transcript (unprotected and unsecured PDF)
A mentor must submit a recommendation letter that describes the student’s overall academic achievements and attributes. Forward this request to your mentor by email with the following URL for online submission: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/019616376bc57dd3a831929290447d66
Announcement Date
Preliminary announcement date for awards is July 26, 2025, contingent upon availability of NASA funding.
This online announcement is available on the ISGC website.