Scholarships & Awards for ECE @ VMI

Awards vs. Scholarships

Awards are checks written out to the student's name.  They may be intended to recognize superior performance or to defray the costs of education. It is the student's responsibility to use them as intended.  They are reported to the IRS as unearned income.

Scholarships are nontaxable transfers of money directly to the bursar; therefore they can only be used to defray direct costs of education.  They will appear as a credit on the following tuition bill. 

1. Administered by ECE

   1. Michael D. Shealy '70 Merit Scholarship and ECE Alumni Scholarship
      Eligibility Criteria: GPA > 3.0, Departmental Service, ECE Service
      Amount: $15,000
      How to Apply: Application information
      When to Apply: before 1 March
      When Decisions Announced: by 15 May
      

      Stewart W. Anderson '08 Award
      Eligibility Criteria: 1st class, GPA
      Amount: $2,000
      How to Apply: Automatically selected based on top GPA in department and class
      When Decisions Announced: by 15 May
      

      MG Richard C. Coupland '15 Award
      Eligibility Criteria: 2nd class, GPA
      Amount: $1,000
      How to Apply: Automatically selected based on top GPA in department and class
      When Decisions Announced: by 15 May
      

      MG Richard C. Coupland '15 Award
      Eligibility Criteria: 3rd class, GPA
      Amount: $1,000
      How to Apply: Automatically selected based on top GPA in department and class
      When Decisions Announced: by 15 May
      

      ECE Departmental Award
      Eligibility Criteria: 4th class, GPA
      Amount: $500
      How to Apply: Automatically selected based on top GPA in department and class
      When Decisions Announced: by 15 May
      

      Virginia AeroSpace Business Association
      Eligibility Criteria: GPA > 3.0, academic service, extracurriculars, community activities
      Amount: $2,000
      How to Apply: Application information
      When to Apply: before 14 Sep
      When Decisions Announced: by 1 Oct
      

2. Administered by VMI

   1. There are many scholarships with ECE eligibilty criteria that are administered by the Financial Aid Office. VMI ECE Students are automatically considered for these awards when they file their federal FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form with the VMI Financial Aid Office. Examples are below:

      Dr. Gabriel G. Balazs, Jr. Scholarship
      Eligibility Criteria: ECE or CIS, need
      Amount: varies, about $5,000
      How to Apply: Automatically selected by Financial Aid based on FAFSA
      When Decisions Announced: by 1 Sep
      

3. Administered Externally

   1. There are many scholarships with ECE eligibilty criteria that are administered externally to VMI. These are beyond our department's control, and frequently change. Search for combinations of "Undergraduate" "ECE" "electrical engineering" "computer engineering" "award" "grant" "scholarship". Here are some promising ones:

      Barber Family Foundation
      Eligibility Criteria: Children of active-duty/retired/Gold-Star families, financial need, past community service
      Amount: Variable
      How to Apply: Application information
      When to Apply: mid-February for the following fall semester
      When Decisions Announced: Variable
      

      DoD SMART Scholarship
      Eligibility Criteria: STEM graduates who will work as civillians for the Department of Defense
      Amount: Variable
      How to Apply: Application information
      When to Apply: 1 Aug through 1 Dec every year
      When Decisions Announced: Typically April
      

      Engineers Club of Hampton Roads
      Eligibility Criteria: Rising senior of a Virginia ABET-accredited engineering department, need and merit considered
      Amount: $1,000 - $3,000
      How to Apply: Application form
      When to Apply: February - April of your junior year
      When Decisions Announced: $1,000 - $3,000
      

      Lockheed Martin STEM Scholarship Program
      Eligibility Criteria: STEM fresh-junior student, US citizen, financial need, GPA 2.5+
      Amount: Variable
      How to Apply: Application information
      When to Apply: January through March every year
      When Decisions Announced: Variable
      

      Out to Innovate
      Eligibility Criteria: STEM fresh-jr, LGBTQ+ community member, GPA 2.75+.
      Amount: Varies
      How to Apply: Application information
      When to Apply: April through early June every year
      When Decisions Announced: August
      

      Society of Women Engineers
      Eligibility Criteria: Engineer, fresh-jr, identify as a woman, need.
      Amount: Varies
      How to Apply: Application information
      When to Apply: Fresh: Feb-Mar, Soph-Junior: Dec-Jan
      When Decisions Announced: May
      

      TowerCares Foundation
      Eligibility Criteria: STEM fresh-junior student, academics, leadership, work. Preference to military families.
      Amount: $5,000 x30 awardees
      How to Apply: Application information under "Scholarship"
      When to Apply: April through mid-May every year
      When Decisions Announced: End of June