Scholarship Connoisseur Encourages Students to Apply for STEM Scholarships and Internship Opportunities Now

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Young student holding books and carrying a backpack, smiling to camera

IOScholarships is the first of its kind scholarship and financial education platform for minority and underrepresented STEM students. The technology has been designed with a streamlined user-friendly interface that offers great functionality to help high school, undergraduate and graduate students find scholarships and internship opportunities. IOScholarships proprietary matching algorithm can match students with life-changing scholarships where their diverse background is valued.

“Now is the time for students to apply for college scholarships,” said María Fernanda Trochimezuk, Founder of IOScholarships. “While there are many scholarships that have qualifications like a minimum 3.5 GPA, there are just as many that have lower GPA requirements or don’t even take GPA into consideration at all.”

GPA is an important factor for getting scholarships but is not the only thing that’s important. Schools are looking for dedicated students, who contribute to their community or are involved in STEM organizations or activities. They want to see leadership and perseverance, and while these can sort of be reflected in a GPA, they mostly shine through in extracurriculars.

The majority of the scholarships featured on IOScholarships come directly from corporations and organizations, rather than solely from competitive university pools – thereby maximizing the number of opportunities students have to earn funding for their education. There’s plenty of money that goes unused every year, students just have to search for it.

Each month IO Scholarships adds hundreds of new curated scholarships to its database and posts “The Scholarship of the Week” on its Instagram social media accounts(@IOScholarships), making it easy to find new scholarship opportunities.

In addition to providing scholarships, the IOScholarships platform features a scholarship organizer, news articles designed to provide guidance on how to apply for scholarships, and money saving tips. The platform also offers a Career Aptitude Quiz designed to help students identify the degrees and professions that best fit their skills.

For more information about IOScholarships visit www.ioscholarships.com or for weekly STEM scholarships email [email protected].

Meet the 2023 National Teacher of the Year
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Rebecka Peterson smiling at students creating artwork at their desks

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has announced that Rebecka Peterson, a high school math teacher, is the 2023 National Teacher of the Year.

Peterson has taught high school math classes ranging from intermediate algebra to advanced placement calculus for 11 years at Union High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A proud immigrant of Swedish-Iranian descent, Peterson is passionate about making mathematics engaging, relevant and accessible to all students, no matter their background.

Amid a difficult first year of high school teaching, she founded “One Good Thing,” a collaborative blog for teachers to track the good things happening in their classrooms. She credits daily posting there to helping her recognize the beautiful and positive experiences occurring in her classroom, which inspired her to stay in the profession. She has since contributed 1,400 posts to the blog. As Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, Peterson has visited teachers across the state to highlight their important work through the Teachers of Oklahoma campaign.

As the 2023 National Teacher of the Year, Peterson will spend a year representing educators and serving as an ambassador for students and teachers across the nation. She plans to spend her year elevating teachers’ stories of the good happening in the classroom in the hope of continuing to encourage current teachers and attract new educators to the profession. She believes that when we take the time to learn each other’s stories, we are more open to searching for the places where our values intersect.

“Everyone has a powerful story to share. Listening to the stories of my students, and those of my fellow educators across Oklahoma, has helped me grow personally and professionally,” Peterson said. “I believe that listening to one story after another has an exponential positive impact. It is an honor to be able to share the stories of our country’s brilliant students and dedicated educators as the next National Teacher of the Year.”

CCSSO’s National Teacher of the Year Program identifies exceptional teachers across the country, recognizes their effective work in the classroom, engages them in a year of professional learning and amplifies their voices.

Rebecka Peterson headshot
Rebecka Peterson-Lily Chris Photography

“Despite the challenges of the past few years, joyful, innovative learning is taking place in classrooms across the country every day. I look forward to the new ways Rebecka will help shine a light on the stories of good things happening in our schools,” said CCSSO Chief Executive Officer Carissa Moffat Miller. “I am proud CCSSO has had the privilege to support excellent teachers like Rebecka through the National Teacher of the Year Program for more than 70 years.”

Every year, exemplary teachers from each state, U.S. extra-state territories, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity are selected as State Teachers of the Year. From that group, the National Teacher of the Year is chosen by a selection committee composed of 17 individuals and education organizations.

The Selection Committee said in a statement: “Rebecka is a caring and passionate educator who understands the importance of connections and providing individual supports for students, both in her math classes and beyond. She has a deep knowledge of both education policy and teaching practices and understands that sustained change at a small scale can make a big difference for students. We know people across the country will connect with the stories she shares as the 2023 National Teacher of the Year.”

“Rebecka has inspired our children in the classroom—but we all know that her work is not done yet, and she will inspire millions of others in her very young but distinct career. Rebecka has changed the lives of countless students; she impacts all those around her and makes everyone better. She finds potential not only in our children, but in our teachers as well,” Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said. “She represents Oklahoma’s future and reassures us all that the future is bright. I wholeheartedly support Rebecka for Teacher of the Year, and on behalf of all of Oklahoma, we are proud to call her our own.”

The National Teacher of the Year Program is sponsored by Google for Education, Equitable, Pearson, Cambium Assessment, Cognia, Curriculum Associates, Data Recognition Corporation, ETS, GoGuardian, MetaMetrics, NWEA, Smarter Balanced and Voya.

Source: Council of Chief State School Officers

Application Open: STEM Scholarship for Black Women
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Young Happy Black Woman Looking at Camera and Smiling. Using Laptop Computer in STEM class

BestColleges is excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for our inaugural scholarship opportunity for Black Women in STEM.

This scholarship is part of BestColleges’ ongoing commitment to supporting students, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, by providing them with opportunities for success. Black women remain underrepresented in STEM fields, despite the growing demand for talent in these industries.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to participate in the scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Must be a Black woman who is pursuing a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree at a four-year college or university
  • Provide one letter of recommendation
  • Write a 500-word essay that describes their interests and motivations for pursuing a career in STEM

All essay submissions should be sent: https://www.bestcolleges.com/scholarship/

To find out more about our scholarship opportunity, please visit our official scholarship page

Grow a Robot: The Future of Engineering
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University of Minnesota Twin Cities materials science graduate student Matthew Hausladen works with a soft growing robot in Professor Chris Ellison’s polymer lab.

An interdisciplinary team of University of Minnesota Twin Cities scientists and engineers has developed a first-of-its-kind, plant-inspired extrusion process that enables synthetic material growth. The new approach will allow researchers to build better soft robots that can navigate hard-to-reach places, complicated terrain and potentially areas within the human body.

The paper is published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” (PNAS), a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, high-impact scientific journal.

“This is the first time these concepts have been fundamentally demonstrated,” said Chris Ellison, a lead author of the paper and professor in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. “Developing new ways of manufacturing are paramount for the competitiveness of our country and for bringing new products to people. On the robotic side, robots are being used more and more in dangerous, remote environments and these are the kinds of areas where this work could have an impact.”

Soft robotics is an emerging field where robots are made of soft, pliable materials as opposed to rigid ones. Soft growing robots can create new material and “grow” as they move. These machines could be used for operations in remote areas where humans can’t go, such as inspecting or installing tubes underground or navigating inside the human body for biomedical applications.

Current soft growing robots drag a trail of solid material behind them and can use heat and/or pressure to transform that material into a more permanent structure, much like how a 3D printer is fed solid filament to produce its shaped product. However, the trail of solid material gets more difficult to pull around bends and turns, making it hard for the robots to navigate terrain with obstacles or winding paths.

The University of Minnesota team solved this problem by developing a new means of extrusion, a process where material is pushed through an opening to create a specific shape. Using this new process allows the robot to create its synthetic material from a liquid instead of a solid.

“We were really inspired by how plants and fungi grow,” said Matthew Hausladen, first author of the paper and a PhD student in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. “We took the idea that plants and fungi add material at the end of their bodies, either at their root tips or at their new shoots and we translated that to an engineering system.”

Plants use water to transport the building blocks that get transformed into solid roots as the plant grows outward. The researchers were able to mimic this process with synthetic material using a technique called photopolymerization, which uses light to transform liquid monomers into a solid material. Using this technology, the soft robot can more easily navigate obstacles and winding paths without having to drag any solid material behind it.

This new process also has applications in manufacturing. Since the researchers’ technique only uses liquid and light, operations that use heat, pressure and expensive machinery to create and shape materials might not be needed.

“A very important part of this project is that we have material scientists, chemical engineers and robotic engineers all involved,” Ellison said. “By putting all of our different expertise together, we really brought something unique to this project and I’m confident that not one of us could have done this alone. This is a great example of how collaboration enables scientists to address really hard fundamental problems while also having a technological impact.”

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Photo: University of Minnesota Twin Cities materials science graduate student Matthew Hausladen works with a soft growing robot in Professor Chris Ellison’s polymer lab. (Olivia Hultgren, Eureka Alert)

Source: University of Minnesota

 

Could Future Computers Run on Human Brain Cells?
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textures and design elements on the subject of virtual reality, science, education and modern technology

By Roberto Molar Candanosa

A “biocomputer” powered by human brain cells could be developed within our lifetime, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers who expect such technology to exponentially expand the capabilities of modern computing and create novel fields of study.

The team outlines their plan for “organoid intelligence” in the journal “Frontiers in Science.”

“Computing and artificial intelligence have been driving the technology revolution, but they are reaching a ceiling,” said Thomas Hartung, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Whiting School of Engineering who is spearheading the work. “Biocomputing is an enormous effort of compacting computational power and increasing its efficiency to push past our current technological limits.”

For nearly two decades, scientists have used tiny organoids, lab-grown tissue resembling fully grown organs, to experiment on kidneys, lungs and other organs without resorting to human or animal testing. More recently, Hartung and colleagues at Johns Hopkins have been working with brain organoids, orbs the size of a pen dot with neurons and other features that promise to sustain basic functions like learning and remembering.

“This opens up research on how the human brain works,” Hartung said. “Because you can start manipulating the system, doing things you cannot ethically do with human brains.”

Hartung began to grow and assemble brain cells into functional organoids in 2012 using cells from human skin samples reprogrammed into an embryonic stem cell-like state. Each organoid contains about 50,000 cells, about the size of a fruit fly’s nervous system. He now envisions building a futuristic computer with such brain organoids.

In the next decade, computers that run on this “biological hardware” could begin to alleviate energy-consumption demands of supercomputing that are becoming increasingly unsustainable, Hartung said. Even though computers process calculations involving numbers and data faster than humans, brains are much smarter in making complex logical decisions, like telling a dog from a cat.

“The brain is still unmatched by modern computers,” Hartung said. “Frontier, the latest supercomputer in Kentucky, is a $600 million, 6,800-square-foot installation. Only in June of last year, it exceeded for the first time the computational capacity of a single human brain—but using a million times more energy.”

It might take decades before organoid intelligence can power a system as smart as a mouse, Hartung said. But by scaling up the production of brain organoids and training them with artificial intelligence, he foresees a future where biocomputers support superior computing speed, processing power, data efficiency and storage capabilities.

Thomas Hartung with brain organoids in his lab at the JohnsHopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Thomas Hartung with brain organoids in his lab at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“It will take decades before we achieve the goal of something comparable to any type of computer,” Hartung said. “But if we don’t start creating funding programs for this, it will be much more difficult.”

Organoid intelligence could also revolutionize drug testing research for neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration, said Lena Smirnova, a Johns Hopkins assistant professor of environmental health and engineering who co-leads the investigations.

“We want to compare brain organoids from typically developed donors versus brain organoids from donors with autism,” Smirnova said. “The tools we are developing toward biological computing are the same tools that will allow us to understand changes in neuronal networks specific for autism, without having to use animals or to access patients. So, we can understand the underlying mechanisms of why patients have these cognition issues and impairments.”

To assess the ethical implications of working with organoid intelligence, a diverse consortium of scientists, bioethicists and members of the public have been embedded within the team.

Source: Johns Hopkins University

You Deserve to Be There: My Top 5 Tips for Women Majoring in STEM
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three diverse young women walking to class

By Katerina Freedman

Entering college as a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) major can be scary. You’re thrown into a new environment where the introductory classes are challenging and where you’re surrounded by tons of unfamiliar people.

Even less discussed, though, are the challenges women in STEM face. Female students make up a small percentage of STEM majors, including computer science — my own major.

As a whole, the STEM culture can be unwelcoming to women. According to a report by the American Association of University Women, women make up just 28% of the STEM workforce.

The gender gap is particularly bad in some of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs of the future, including many positions in computer science and engineering. This “boy’s club” culture often leaves women feeling like outsiders, leading them to drop out of STEM programs at alarming rates.

As a woman in STEM, I’ve faced impostor syndrome, unwelcoming environments, and blatant sexism — but I’ve learned how to succeed in spite of these barriers. Here are my top five pieces of advice for women majoring in STEM.

Tip 1: Know You Deserve to Be There

My first piece of advice is to understand you belong and that you deserve to be in that STEM class or STEM major just as much as anyone else does. Your peers might talk with incredible confidence, but it’s often puffy-chest hearsay, so don’t let that freak you out.

There can be a lot of pressure going into STEM as a woman. Although I grew up with an engineering background and initially felt confident in becoming a computer scientist, I developed impostor syndrome and attribute most of that feeling to the environment I entered.

In my first computer science class in college, only five out of 50 students were women, including myself. Despite knowing there was a lack of women in my major, I’d expected a ratio of 40 women to 60 men — not 10:90.

Moreover, I had peers, both with and without a computer science background, complaining about our projects and classwork being too easy — and here I was having to spend a lot of time finishing them.

“In my first computer science class in college, only five out of 50 students were women, including myself. … I’d expected a ratio of 40 women to 60 men — not 10:90.”

Another thing that affected my confidence was hearing comments like, “It’s really cool you’re doing computing as a woman.” Hearing this — when I felt my gender identity was not a factor in choosing my major — exacerbated my impostor syndrome even more. Perhaps I wasn’t smart enough or didn’t have the “right” brain for computing. Maybe I didn’t belong in this major.

My professor had told me that women tend to drop out of my school’s computer science program at a rate 150% higher than that for men, despite having equal or higher grades. At the time, I was ranked in the top 20% of my class and was consistently scoring 90-100% on the same projects my peers were averaging just 70-80% on. Despite that impostor feeling, I was doing well.

Women often feel the pressure to excel in order to feel like they belong, but it’s perfectly OK to perform averagely in class. If men can be average and still feel welcomed, you can, too. Most people are average!

It can be scary being in the minority, but you have earned that spot in class and should have the same opportunity to succeed, no matter your background or identity.

Tip 2: Find Allies

My second piece of advice is to get involved and find your people.

By far, the best decision I made at the beginning of college was to sit next to the other four women in my first computing class. Three out of five of us stayed in the computer science track, and our little-but-mighty support group was extremely helpful in those starting days.

I also joined a club called Association for Gender Inclusion in Computing. This group helped me find peers who used she/they pronouns, as well as other students from historically excluded groups who could understand the struggles of trying to survive the boys-club culture of STEM.

Lastly, I made many connections with people who didn’t experience sexism themselves — and who were even part of the problem unknowingly at times — but who were open to learning and changing to make the STEM culture more equitable, open, and welcoming.

Tip 3: Connect With a Faculty Member

Building a relationship with a trustworthy instructor is one of the smartest things you can do as a woman in STEM.

First off, most professors have spent time in the industry and have tons of connections. They can also provide great recommendation letters for work and school and are an excellent source for helping new students get involved in their STEM program.

Furthermore, your STEM professors can create a safe environment that lets you comfortably express concerns about sexism in your program. During my time in college, I had two professors I could tell my problems to. Both took action, whether it was to escalate an issue or make changes to how they were running their classrooms to be more inclusive.

Professors can be intimidating, but the best ones want you to succeed and will take measures to make sure your environment allows for that.

Tip 4: Report Sexism When You See It

If a student is making you feel unsafe or attacked based on your identity, report them. I was so nervous to report people at the beginning of my college career, thinking it was an overreaction or not worth anyone’s time.

But if another student is harassing you due to your identity, they are likely causing problems for others as well. This harassment can affect your grades and well-being, and you owe it to yourself and to others to put an end to it.

I once had a peer tell me I didn’t need to try in school and should stop taking up my professors’ office hours because every company would want me as a diversity hire, while he had to “actually work for that same position.”

This type of statement is invalidating to any student: being told your efforts will have nothing to do with any of your success down the line. Statistically, men are hired at higher rates than women and make up the majority of the STEM workforce.

So not only was what that student said completely sexist, but it was also false information he was helping to spread into the major’s cultural bias against women. Despite him telling me this multiple times a week, I convinced myself it wasn’t big enough to report, once again doing what women often do: making myself feel smaller to fit into men’s space.

“Not only was what that student said completely sexist, but it was also false information he was helping to spread. … I convinced myself it wasn’t big enough to report, once again doing what women often do: making myself feel smaller to fit into men’s space.”

I later learned this student spread a rumor that a friend of mine was sleeping with a professor for good grades. The professor frequently met with my friend during office hours, and she had one of the highest grades in the class.

But instead of simply assuming she was a hardworking student, he labeled her “too stupid” to earn such results. My friend had the same mindset as me at the time, so she didn’t report him. We both still regret that.

Years later, I told a faculty member about these interactions in a discussion about the sexism women have experienced in our computer science program. They, too, regretted that we didn’t report these people.

You might run into men like this student I dealt with, and even if you convince yourself the problem is small and more annoying than hurtful, it’s best to let a professor know. Most faculty members don’t want people like that destroying their STEM program.

And if you have a problem with a professor, you can and should report them as well. Most programs offer anonymous reporting so students can report without unintended consequences. It’s almost always better to report and risk having nothing come of it than to regret letting people get away with such sexist behavior.

If you have a story to tell, learn what the process looks like and how to write it.

Tip 5: Don’t Burn Yourself Out Trying to Educate Everyone

My last piece of advice is to avoid trying to educate everyone on their oppressive behavior. It’s a learned skill to recognize who will be responsive and willing to make changes — and those who will not.

During my first couple of years in college, I’d call out everyone on passive and blatant sexism, especially in the presence of other women. In retrospect, I should have reported or ignored the people saying these things in most situations.

Unfortunately, hearing sexist statements is a daily occurrence in many STEM programs. Disguised as encouraging, many of these statements are rooted in internalized misogyny. This verbiage contributes to much of the impostor syndrome experienced by women.

All this is to say, put your studies first — it’s not your job to educate everyone on how to not be sexist. Taking the time with allies to understand the issues and encouraging them to call others out on their sexist behavior can help bring about a cultural shift. But trying to educate individual students is not any one person’s job and can burn you out fast.

Ultimately, school comes first. Making use of clubs and other organizations for mass education may be more effective in helping to build a better, more inclusive STEM culture for women.

Explore more college resources at BestColleges.com

Billionaire Robert Hale Gave Grads $1,000 Cash In Envelopes At Ceremony
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Robert Hale headshot

Billionaire Robert Hale doled out millions of dollars recently to 2,500 graduates at the University of Massachusetts, Boston — giving each one $1,000 in cash as they accepted their diplomas—the latest billionaire donation for students, as the price of tuition skyrockets.

Hale, the commencement speaker at UMass Boston, gave students two envelopes that each contained $500, the Boston Globe reported.

The billionaire co-founder and CEO of Granite Telecommunications told seniors to keep one of the envelopes for themselves, and donate the other to a charity of their choice, calling it a “gift of giving”—though whether they donate the money is up to them.

For Hale, the sudden loss of $2.5 million only represents a drop in the bucket of his $5 billion net worth, according to Forbes’ valuation.

It’s also his second time giving college graduates cash: Hale in 2021 handed $1,000 to all 270 graduating students who attended their commencement address at Quincy College, several miles outside Boston.

$15,535. That’s how much in-state students pay per year in tuition and mandatory fees at UMass Boston, a predominantly commuter school, according to the school’s bursar’s office. For out-of-state students, one year at UMass Boston costs $37,211, just below the average price of tuition at a private college in the U.S. ($37,600, according to the National Center for Education Statistics), and well below the price of Columbia University, the school with the most expensive college tuition in the country ($69,986).

Read the full article posted on Forbes here.

College Majors With the Best Return on Investment
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female collge grad in cap and gown opening champagne

By Cole Claybourn, U.S. News & World Report

Engineering and health-care majors top the list for ROI.

It’s no secret that college is expensive.

Both private and public institutions ranked by U.S. News saw tuition increases for the 2022-2023 academic year, according to data submitted in an annual survey. Average tuition and fees at ranked private universities was about $40,000, while ranked public universities cost nearly $23,000 for out-of-state students and $10,500 for in-state students.

In turn, the average student loan debt continues to rise, currently clocking in at about $30,000 per borrower, according to U.S. News data.

Though students may encounter difficulties paying for it, college is a worthwhile investment when done wisely, experts say. In 2021, the median weekly wage for full-time workers age 25 and older who had at least a bachelor’s degree was $1,334, compared to $809 for those with only a high school diploma and no college, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What a student studies can further affect the calculation. Certain degrees yield a better return on investment than others, according to data from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known collectively as STEM, the data shows, are among those with the highest ROI.

“STEM careers continue to offer highly competitive salaries in the job market,” Jackson Gruver, a data analyst at online salary database Payscale, wrote in an email. “These ‘hot’ jobs rely on specialized skill sets that are hard to come by. Such talent scarcity drives up the demand for these workers along with their pay. Whether it’s engineering, medical or data sciences – these laborers will see an abundance of opportunities in the job market that compensate well.”

Georgetown’s CEW analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard to determine a list of 34 degrees with the highest ROI. It uses four categories to determine which degrees hold the most economic value: median monthly earnings net of debt, median monthly debt payments, median annualized earnings net of debt, and median debt.

Read the complete article and more STEM news on U.S. News & World Report here.

High school senior accepted into 180 colleges, awarded $9 million in scholarships
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Black hight school senior Dennis Maliq Barnes, who applied to 200 colleges, wearing suit speaking into microphone

A Louisiana high school senior who applied to 200 colleges and universities says he has received acceptances to 180 of them, an impressive 90% success rate that’s only rivaled by the $9 million in scholarships he’s been awarded as well.

Dennis Maliq Barnes is in his senior year at International High School of New Orleans, where he has accelerated his studies and completed his 10th and 11th grades early.

The 16-year-old, who goes by Maliq, said he started his college application process last fall with the help of his guidance counselor Denise James.

“It was never a journey that I would say that I started initially with the anticipation of being in a record or getting X amount of money. It was just kind of a process trying to get into school, just being a college-bound student,” Maliq told “Good Morning America.”

Maliq said he hopes to major in computer science in college and attend law school in the future.

Read the complete article and more from ABC News here.

PHOTO: Courtesy of International High School of New Orleans.

14 of Financial Aid’s Biggest Myths Debunked
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The U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid provides around $112 billion in federal student aid annually. Yet Student Aid’s FY 2021 Annual Report found that only about 61% of high school students applied for financial aid.

Here are the top 14 myths about student aid, debunked:

Myth 1: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form costs money. 

FACT: Nope! The FAFSA form is free. The quickest and best way to fill it out is on fafsa.gov. Don’t complete your FAFSA form on websites that charge fees.

Myth 2: My family’s income is too high for me to qualify for financial aid. 

FACT: That’s one of the most common financial aid myths, but there’s no income cutoff. Most people qualify for some type of financial aid, which range from grants and scholarships to loans and work-study programs. Many factors besides income — such as your family size and your year in school — are considered to create your financial aid package.

When you submit the FAFSA form, you’re also automatically applying for state funds and possibly financial aid from your school, including grants and scholarships. In fact, some schools won’t even consider you for their scholarships (including academic scholarships) until you’ve submitted a FAFSA form. And you can’t know how much financial aid you’ll get until you fill it out.

Myth 3: The FAFSA form is really hard to fill out. 

FACT: Most people can complete their first FAFSA form in less than an hour. If it’s a renewal or you’re an independent student who doesn’t need to provide parents’ information, it can take even less time. Online, you’re asked only the questions relevant to you. And if you’ve filed your taxes, you can transfer your tax return data into your FAFSA form automatically.

Myth 4: I’m not eligible for financial aid because of my ethnicity or age. 

FACT: Absolutely not. While schools have their own eligibility requirements, federal student aid eligibility requirements do not exclude based on ethnicity or age.

Myth 5: The FAFSA form is only for federal student loans. 

FACT: Not at all. In fact, the FAFSA form is one of the most widely used tools to access student aid: one application for multiple types of funding. When you complete the FAFSA form, you’re automatically applying for everything from grants and scholarships to work-study funds and loans from federal, state, and school sources. States and schools can also determine scholarships and grants using your FAFSA information. And the funding can be substantial.

Myth 6: The FAFSA form kicks off on Jan. 1, and you have to submit it by June.  

FACT: Nope! You have more time than you think. The FAFSA form is available on Oct. 1 for the next school year and there are three FAFSA deadlines: federal, state, and school. But the sooner you submit your FAFSA form, the more likely you are to get aid.

Remember, too, that when you submit the FAFSA form, you’re also automatically applying for grants, scholarships and loans from states and schools, which may have earlier deadlines than the federal deadline. If you’re applying to multiple schools, check their deadlines and apply by the earliest one.

Myth 7: I need to file my 2022 taxes before completing the FAFSA form. 

FACT: No, you’ll use your 2021 tax information to apply for student aid for the 2023-24 award year. You do not need to update your FAFSA form after filing your 2022 taxes because only the 2021 information is required. If your financial situation has changed in the last year, you should still complete the FAFSA form with the 2021 information, submit your FAFSA form and contact the financial aid office at the school you plan to attend to discuss how your financial situation has changed.

Myth 8: You have to have good grades to get a financial aid package. 

FACT: Applying for admission into school is different from applying for financial aid. Good grades may help with academic scholarships, but most federal student aid programs don’t consider grades for your first FAFSA form. In subsequent years, you’ll have to meet certain academic standards defined by your school (also known as satisfactory academic progress) to continue receiving financial aid.

Myth 9: Since I’m self-supporting, I don’t have to include my parents on the FAFSA form. 

FACT: Not necessarily. You need to know how the FAFSA form defines a dependent student. The form asks questions to determine your dependency status. You’ll also need to learn who is defined as a parent for FAFSA purposes. Requirements for being considered an independent student go beyond living on your own and supporting yourself.

Myth 10: I should not fill out the FAFSA form until I’m accepted to school. 

FACT: That’s another widespread FAFSA misconception. Do it as soon as possible. To receive your information, the FAFSA form requires you to list at least one school, but you should list any schools you’re thinking about, even if you haven’t applied or been accepted. And don’t worry ― schools can see only their own information; they will not be able to see other schools on your FAFSA form.

Myth 11: I only need to submit the FAFSA form once.  

FACT: You have to fill out the FAFSA form every year you’re in school to stay eligible for federal student aid, but filling out the renewal FAFSA form takes less time.

Myth 12: I should contact the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid to find out how much financial aid I’m getting and when.

FACT: No, the financial aid office at your school is the source for that information. The U.S. Department of Education’s office does not award or disburse your aid. Remember — each school awards financial aid on its own schedule.

Myth 13: The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is the amount you have to pay for school. 

FACT: The EFC is not the amount of money your family will have to pay for college, and it is not the amount of federal student aid you will receive. The EFC is a number your school uses to calculate how much financial aid you are eligible to receive. Other factors ― the largest being the cost of your school ― contribute to determining both the amount and type of aid you receive.

Myth 14: I can share my FSA ID with my parent(s).  

FACT: Nope. If you’re a dependent student, you will need your own FSA ID to sign your FAFSA form online, and so will one of your parents. An FSA ID is an account username and password that you use to log in to certain U.S. Department of Education websites. If you share your FSA ID, you’re risking identity theft and your FAFSA form could be delayed.

Source: studentaid.gov

6 STEM Scholarships You Should Know About
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Just about every career in the STEM field requires some form of university-level education. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to spend every penny you own and then some to pursue your dream job.

Whether it’s through federal funding, non-profit organizations or individual donations, there are tons of scholarship and grant opportunities for students wanting to pursue the world of STEM.

Here are just a few of the scholarships that you can apply for:

The Society of Women Engineers Scholarship

Since World War II, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) has been doing all they can to support the needs of women engineers across the country. One of the ways they do this is through the SWE Scholarship Program, which provides varying fund amounts to those identifying as women and studying in undergraduate or graduate programs in the STEM field. While the specific amount you can receive varies, the program gave away over $1,220,000 in scholarships in 2021 alone. All students, from incoming freshman to graduate students, may apply but freshman must fill out a separate application form.

  • Amount: Varies
  • Number of Scholarships Given: Varies
  • Application Dates: Applications usually often in December for upperclassman and the following March for freshman
  • How to Learn More: swe.org/applications/login.asp

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauts Scholarships

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauts (AAIA) is an organization dedicated to supporting the future generation of people interested in the aerospace field. One of the ways they do this is through their scholarship program, where undergraduates and graduates alike can fill out a single application and be eligible for consideration for up to three scholarships from their program. To apply, you must be at least a sophomore in college and a member of AAIA.

USDA/1890 Scholars Program

The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is a partnership between USDA and the 1890 historically Black land-grant colleges and universities. The program provides full tuition, employment, employee benefits, fees, books and room and board each year for up to four years for selected students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, food science, natural resource science or a related academic discipline at one of 19 designated 1890s land-grant colleges and universities. The scholarship may be renewed each year, contingent upon satisfactory academic performance and normal progress toward the bachelor’s degree. Scholars accepted into the program will be eligible for noncompetitive conversion to a permanent appointment with USDA upon successful completion of their degree requirements by the end of the agreement period.

  • Amount: Full Tuition Coverage
  • Number of Scholarships Given: Varies
  • Application Dates: Varies
  • How to Learn More: gov/youth/scholarships

Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART)

In a collaboration with American Society for Engineering Education and the Department of Defense, the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) program is for students wanting to go into engineering, biosciences, chemical engineering, civil engineering, chemistry and cognitive, neural and behavioral sciences. In addition to full tuition coverage, SMART students will receive health insurance, mentoring, internship opportunities and a guaranteed job offer from the Department of Defense. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, be available for summer internships and are expected to accept the job position offered to them upon completing their education.

  • Amount: Full Tuition Coverage, plus more
  • Number of Scholarships Given: Varies
  • Application Dates: Varies
  • How to Learn More: org/smart

NOAA Undergraduate Scholarships

NOAA Office of Education’s student scholarship programs provide opportunities for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience while pursuing research and educational training in NOAA-mission sciences. The Hollings and EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship share a common application and students who are eligible for both programs are encouraged to apply to both. To be eligible, you must be a sophomore at a four-year university program, a junior at a five-year university program or a community college student transferring to a university.

The S-STEM Program

Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the National Science Foundation (NSF) founded the S-STEM Program, a fund that provides awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to fund scholarships and to adapt, implement and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that have been shown to be effective in supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways and graduation in STEM. While most of the students who receive this award are studying an area of the STEM field, proposals can be made for funds to be given to students who meet the same qualifications, but are studying a high-demand industry. The amounts distributed depend on the institution.

Sources: The College Consensus, National Science Foundation, USDA, NOAA, SMART Scholarship, AIAA, Society of Women Engineers

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Upcoming Events

  1. City Career Fairs Schedule for 2023
    September 27, 2023 - January 23, 2024
  2. Small Business Expo 2023 Business Networking & Educational Events Schedule
    September 27, 2023 - June 6, 2024
  3. 2023 Global ERG Network Conference
    October 11, 2023 - October 13, 2023
  4. 2023 Global ERG Network Conference
    October 11, 2023 - October 13, 2023
  5. STEAM Symposium
    February 9, 2024 - February 10, 2024
  6. Save The Date for #NSBE50!
    February 28, 2024 - March 3, 2024