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SPACE GRA IONAL NT NAT
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Scholarship & Fellowship Program
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NASA
What is SPACE GRANT? The U.S. Congress created the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in the NASA Authorization Act of 1988. In 1989 NASA acted upon this law and initiated the program, usually known as “Space Grant”. The antecedents of Space Grant are Land Grant and Sea Grant. Space Grant is a national network of colleges and universities working to expand opportunities for Americans to understand and participate in our national aeronautics and space enterprise. The Space Grant national network currently includes almost 1000 affiliates including universities, colleges, industries, museums, science centers, and state and local agencies across 52 consortia in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Among their various programs, the 52 consortia fund scholarships and fellowships for students pursuing careers in science, mathematics, engineering and technology, or STEM, as well as curriculum enhancement and faculty development. Member colleges and universities also administer pre-college and public service education projects in their states.
What does the Alabama Space Grant Consortium do?(www.uah.edu/ASGC) Since its inception in 1989, the NASA/Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) has constructed a broad-based member and affiliate network of universities, industry, research centers, and formal and informal educational institutions across the state through which we develop and deliver programs and opportunities to recruit and train U.S. citizens. Our members include all seven Research Universities in the state: Alabama A&M University (AAMU), Auburn University (AU), The University of Alabama (UA), The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB),The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville), University of South Alabama (USA) and Tuskegee University (TU). Other affiliates include NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and several other educational institutions, museums and private industry. UAHuntsville, located in the city of Huntsville, leads the Consortium. We encourage participation from individuals in those groups traditionally underrepresented in aerospace and STEM-related professions. All ASGC programs are designed to fit within both NASA’s education goals and our own consortium mission. Each member university defines its own role within the consortium and sponsors high-quality activities chosen from our portfolio of programs suited to its own capabilities. All campuses do NOT all do the same things. Campus Directors work closely as a team to integrate programs, help each other fully share in program accomplishments and benefit from resources, contacts, and lessons learned.
What is the ASGC Scholarship and Fellowship Program? The Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC), a member of the NASA National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, supports undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships for students studying in an aerospace-related discipline at participating universities. The awards are made to United States citizens with proven academic excellence and accomplishments. In Alabama, we award over $400,000 worth of Space Grant Scholarships and Fellowships each year. This adds up, over the 23 years of the Alabama programs, to a total of 720 undergraduate scholarships and 258 graduate fellowships, for a total of almost $6.3 million in financial support. The students are competitively selected from hundreds of applicants each year. This current year $477,000 ($222,000 in matching, non-federal funds and $255,000 in NASA funds) was directed to scholarships and fellowships. ii