Goldwater Scholarship

Two students working together in a science lab on an experiment

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship provides up to $7,500 per year for tuition, fees, room and board for undergraduate students in STEM fields. Students can apply during their “sophomore” or “junior” year (as determined by time left to graduation). KU may nominate four students (or up to five, if one student is a transfer student from another institution) each year.

The Goldwater reviewers aim to select students who "demonstrate a passion for doing research who exhibit the creative spark that will make them leaders in their fields," according to the Goldwater Scholarship website.

Selection Criteria

Eligible students must have:

  • extensive research experience, especially in the natural sciences, mathematics, and/or engineering fields
  • a high GPA (usually 3.8 or higher)
  • U.S. citizen or permanent resident status

Selection Process

KU will use the national application system for selection of campus nominees. You may begin the process at any time after the national application portal opens. Please contact the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships at curf@ku.edu with questions.

  1. Submit a pre-application using the Goldwater Scholarship national application system.
  2. Get approval to complete the nomination application from the Office of Fellowships staff; we will email you the campus application form.
  3. Ask three Recommenders (from STEM fields) to submit their letters using the KU online campus reference form.
  4. Submit your essays and additional application materials via the national application system. An "Advising Report" from the Advising Tool or an "Academic Summary" from Enroll & Pay is sufficient at the campus level; you do not need to order a transcript from KU. If you have college credit that does not appear in the KU portal, please let us know.
  5. You will be contacted in November with the results of the campus nomination process. KU nominees will work with the Office of Fellowships staff to revise their applications before the national deadline.

The KU Goldwater committee is made up of several KU science and engineering faculty members. The committee members read all applications and select KU's four nominees.

Deadlines

Campus deadline: late October

National deadline:  last Friday in January

Resources