ACCESS-STEM SCHOLARSHIP
The Academic Collaboration and Coordination Model to Ensure Student Success in STEM (ACCESS STEM) partnership has earned the national Science Foundation’s Scholarship in STEM (S-STEM) grant to provide scholarships to students at Ridgewater College and other partner colleges.
Eligible scholars at Ridgewater College could receive up to $7,500 per year for two years. Scholars who receive a two-year scholarship and complete their STEM degree program at Ridgewater will have the opportunity to receive an additional two-year scholarship of up to $9,000 per year if they successfully transfer to St. Cloud State University.
Scholarship Highlights
- Students are eligible to receive up to $7,500 per year for the two years at Ridgewater College.
- Students who receive a scholarship their first year will be eligible for a second-year scholarship.
- Students choosing to transfer to St. Cloud State University upon completion of an AS Science degree from Ridgewater are eligible for an additional two-year scholarship.
- Eligibility
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Eligible Ridgewater STEM Degrees
Eligibility Requirements
To be considered, applicants must:
- Be enrolled full time in a program leading to a STEM degree at the associate level. Enrollment must be full-time for each semester a student receives a scholarship.
- Applicants must be first-year college students. Students who have attended college as a PSEO student and are now in their first year of college outside of the PSEO program are still considered eligible as a first-year college student. Current PSEO students are not eligible.
- Demonstrate academic potential or ability with a high school GPA above 3.0 and an ACT Math score of 22 or above.
- Be eligible for a PELL grant as determined by the completion of their FAFSA.
- Be citizens of the United States, Nationals of the United States (as defined in Section 101 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), aliens admitted as refugees under Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence;
- Application & Requirements
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How to Apply
Please note the ACCESS-STEM Scholarship requires a separate application from the Ridgewater College Foundation universal online scholarship application. To apply for the ACCESS-STEM Scholarship you must:
- Apply to Ridgewater College
- Apply for Financial Aid – MUST have a completed FAFSA prior to applying for the scholarship – Ridgewater’s financial aid code is 005252
- Apply for the STEM Scholarship – Applications accepted until filled!
Applicants will need…
- High school GPA and relevant test score information
- An essay describing your academic and career goals. Describe how you intend to accomplish your goal, and describe at least one past experience where you overcame an obstacle to achieving a goal and how that experience will help you accomplish your future goals. Your essay should be approximately 500 words. It should be typed any stored as either a word document (.doc or .docx) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file
- Two letters of recommendation from previous teachers or school counselors. One of the letters should be from a science, technology, engineering, or math teacher who had you in class
- Contact
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Ridgewater College contact for ACCESS-STEM Scholarship information and questions:
Dawn Bjork-Pedersen
320-222-5981
Dawn.Bjork-Pedersen@ridgewater.edu - Partner Institutions
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- Anoka Ramsey Community College
- St. Cloud Technical & Community College
- St. Cloud State University
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1742517. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
