STEM | Graphic by Monica Brutto | The Wright State Guardian
Students with science, technology, engineering and math majors have new scholarship opportunities at Wright State University.
Choose Ohio First
According to its website, the Choose Ohio First program awards competitive scholarship funding to Ohio's colleges and universities to support undergraduate and qualifying graduate students in innovative academic programs.
According to Choose Ohio First’s 2021–2022 annual report, it worked with a total of 63 public and nonpublic colleges and universities that had a Choose Ohio First designation, with enrolled scholars receiving scholarship funds through one of the active funding rounds.
In addition, for the academic year of 2021–2022, Choose Ohio First awarded and disbursed $15.18 million to 3,802 scholars attending an Ohio college or university. Participating institutions reported matching contributions totaling $40.67 million to support those students.
Scholarship details
The Ohio Department of Higher Education with Choose Ohio First awarded WSU $720,000 for students in the STEM fields WSU offers, including engineering, information technology, cyber security and other majors, according to the Division of Student Success on Wright State’s website.
Mariann Boron, a career consultant at Wright State, talked about the qualifications for the scholarship.
“In order to receive the scholarship, [students] have to come in as one of those majors…and if they end up changing their major, then they no longer qualify for the scholarship,” Boron said.
The offered scholarships associated with this grant range from $1,500 to $5,200 annually. Boron explained the process of determining the funding for the scholarships.
“So typically, we kind of go off financial aid expertise…a lot of times, it comes down to the requirements for the scholarship, but a lot of them are really broad, so it creates a very huge candidate pool,” Boron said.
Boron said the process of completing the application for scholarships can be challenging for students, but the consultant provided some insight to tailor each application for success. For students interested in filling out the scholarship, Boron gave some advice.
“Don’t tell us what you think we want to hear, tell us who you are, because your story is what we are trying to figure out,” Boron said. “Being clear about what your goals are as people are selecting, it kind of makes it easier to choose you because I know this is what you want to do.”
STEM opportunities in Dayton
STEM students are in high demand in the Dayton area. Boron talked about the demand for jobs at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, among other places.
“The growth of the base and the changes upcoming, and the Space Force coming, like, that opened up a lot of jobs and opportunities,” Boron said.
Boron said the goal of these scholarships is to help students get a degree and to set students up for the workforce.
“The whole goal of a scholarship in general is for degree completion, so not only for students to start in STEM, but to finish their degree,” Boron said.
For more information on STEM scholarships, visit the Wright State University Division of Student Success page.
