College of
Southern Maryland‘s NSF S-STEM Scholarship Program is designed to support
full-time and part-time (greater than ½-time students) majoring in any of the following content areas: Bioinformatics, Biology, Biotechnology, Cybersecurity,
Computer Science, Life Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Science,
Information Technology, Physical Sciences (Chemistry, Geology, Physics) and
Mathematics. Scholarships will be
awarded for up to two years based on the lifetime of the grant. New students and current CSMD students are
eligible to apply. Scholarships vary in amount but have a maximum of $10,000
per year (based on financial need) and can be used for tuition, fees, books,
supplies, equipment and other needs. Scholarship recipients will be part of a
learning community and as such they will be assigned a faculty mentor and will have
the opportunity to actively participate in faculty-mentored undergraduate
research.
Eligibility Criteria:
To qualify students must:
• Be a United States citizen,
permanent resident, or an eligible non-citizen;
• Have financial need (as
defined for undergraduate students by the U.S. Department of Education criteria
for Federal Financial Aid); If no financial need is determined, you may write a
250-word essay explaining why the S-STEM scholarship is essential to your student
success, specifically emphasizing the financial hardship if the scholarship is
not awarded. The essays will be reviewed by the PI and the Associate Dean
of Financial Assistance. If the PI and Associate Dean concur that the
essay indicates financial-hardship, then S-STEM funding can be awarded. If you meet the FAFSA requirement, then the
needs essay is not required.
• Maintain full-time
enrollment (minimum of 12 credits per semester) or part-time enrollment
(greater than ½ time)
• Have and maintain at least a
3.0 GPA;
•
Agree to
participate in a one credit seminar, which would include an undergraduate
research component, and participate in scholarship program activities. You are
expected to attend 4 of the 5 meetings in both the fall semester and spring
semester plus the fall presemester jumpstart (two-day orientation).
Application
Process
A.
Complete and submit the following directly to College
of Southern Maryland:
Dr. Melanie Osterhouse at mdosterhouse@csmd.edu
OR
NSF S-STEM Scholarship Program
Dr. Melanie Osterhouse
8730 Mitchell Road
P.O. Box 910
LaPlata, MD 20646
1. The
completed scholarship application form (Be sure a current FAFSA is completed
and send the application directly to mdosterhouse@csmd.edu
first and your eligibility can be determined before seeking the letter of
recommendation and completing the essay).
2. An
essay written by the applicant (450-500 words, typed, double-spaced) explaining
your interest in your field of study, your qualifications and how you will
benefit from this award. This essay is
required by all applicants.
3. Complete
College of Southern Maryland’s Placement Exam or
submit appropriate SAT, ACT, AP or IB scores or
demonstrate completion of college level English and Mathematics courses.
4. Letter
of recommendation**
5. Official Transcript (high school or college,
as appropriate)**
**Students who have previously submitted letters of
recommendations and/or transcripts to the Office of Admissions and Advising do
not need to re-submit these documents. (Please let Dr. Osterhouse
know to retrieve the documents from admissions)
B. Complete
the 2024-2025 Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If you
do not have access to the internet, please use a computer at CSMD, your high
school, and/or a public library.
The FAFSA may be completed by accessing the
Financial Aid Services Website (CSMD’s Federal School Code is
002064
and must be included on the FAFSA)*:
•
Please go to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
•
Log into your FAFSA account and select “Start 2024-2025
FAFSA”.
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Follow the easy
step-by-step instructions
