AISES Scholarship FAQ

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) helps students move forward in their educational journeys by providing a wide range of programs and scholarship opportunities. AISES scholarships help students acquire skills and training that will help them meet the unique STEM needs of our communities. We highly encourage you to apply for all the scholarships you are eligible for! To apply, you must be an AISES member.  

Frequently Asked Questions

The Online Scholarship Application Information System (OASIS) is the system AISES uses to collect and evaluate scholarship and internship applications. AISES has partnered with Indigenous Education, Inc. (providers of the Cobell Scholarship) to offer easy access to scholarships for American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawai’ians, Pacific Islanders, and members of Canada’s First Nations through the OASIS Platform.


Creating a General Application Profile is the first step to completing other scholarship applications you qualify for. In OASIS, students will complete a General Application Profile that can be completed, revised, and submitted year-round and will match you only with the scholarship opportunities you are eligible for and those that are open and available to receive. All scholarship opportunities (AISES, The Cobell Scholarship, and others offered by Indigenous Education, Inc., and Dream Warriors) have different eligibility criteria. Be sure to read the specific requirements carefully.

Each AISES Scholarship has its own eligibility requirements regarding GPA, majors and academic status. Please see the individual scholarship pages for eligibility requirements. However, at a minimum all scholarships require the following:

AISES Membership:

Applicants must be a current AISES members at the time of application.  All applicants will be required to enter a valid AISES membership number. To get a membership number join AISES or retrieve your membership number through AISES Membership Portal

Tribal Membership

Applicants must be an enrolled member or a descendant of an enrolled member of a federal or state recognized American Indian Tribe or Alaska Native Village; or Native Hawaiian or descendant from a Native Hawaiian; or Pacific Islander or descendant from Pacific Islander; or Indigenous person of Canada.  Enrollment documents and/or a copy of birth certificate(s) showing descendancy from an enrolled citizen, Indigenous group of Canada, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander are acceptable.  Applicants may also, instead, provide a copy of their Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood or Certificate of Degree of Alaska Native Blood (CDIB) card.  Please note, AISES may not always have scholarships available for non-citizens of the United States.

Scholarships open on December 15 and close on April 30 of each scholarship application period. Our scholarships are provided each academic year to include equal Fall and Spring disbursements of scholarships for each semester/quarter.

AISES requires its applicants to maintain a GPA of 3.0. 
Applicants with lower GPAs than those listed should still consider applying but should be prepared to provide any explanations, show strengths in other areas, and are not guaranteed to be considered for a scholarship. All completed applications are individually reviewed and scored by external professional educators who look beyond the GPA in a holistic review process. Applicants with less competitive GPAs should be able to demonstrate overall success, achievement, and a plan for academic improvement or may rank low when reviewed by the selection committee.

Absolutely not! At AISES, we do not allow parents or guardians to fill out any portions of the scholarship application or profile on OASIS. Suppose the AISES Student Success Team sees that a parent or guardian is the main contact for a student. In that case, that student risks being disqualified from all scholarship and internship opportunities at AISES. Students MUST be the primary contact for their scholarships and internships.  

The field of study requirements are set by the funder, and the student must prove they are in the required field of study to receive the scholarship. The OASIS system matches students to scholarships they are eligible for based on their area of study, so if you are not matched with a scholarship, you are not eligible to apply. 


Areas of study that are adjacent to the required fields are still not considered a match and cannot apply. Reach out to the student success team if you think there is any issue with your matches on OASIS. 

Unfortunately, AISES scholarships are only available to full-time students.  

To apply for an AISES scholarship, the student must be an enrolled member of a state (only select scholarships) or federally recognized tribe or a descendant of someone that was enrolled in a tribe. 

For students who are not enrolled tribal citizens themselves but can prove that their parents or grandparents have tribal enrollment, the following is very important:

You must prove your descendancy through a paper trail. You will need the following items to do so:

Your birth certificate (which identifies your parents’ names).

Your parent’s tribal enrollment document/CDIB. (If both parents are enrolled tribal citizens, you only need one of their tribal enrollment documents).

If you are proving descendancy to a grandparent, Steps 1-2 must be repeated by using your parent’s birth certificate and grandparent’s tribal enrollment document.

Once these documents are collected, please upload them as ONE document to your AISES application.

Examples of tribal documents may include:

– Official letter from the tribe stating the enrollment status of the parent and/or grandparent;

– A copy of the Tribal ID card; or

– CIB (Certificate of Indian Blood)

Please note that DNA results from sites like Ancestry.com, 23&Me, MyHeritage DNA, etc., do NOT prove tribal descent. Therefore CAN NOT be used for verification of tribal descent.

There are many reasons why a student will be deemed ineligible for a scholarship.

Suppose a parent or guardian has filled out ANY portion of the OASIS profile or application. In that case, the student can be deemed ineligible.

  • If the applicant cannot prove, they are a tribal citizen or a descendant of a tribal citizen.
  • If the applicant did not apply with accurate information such as field of study, enrolled institution, location, etc.
  • If the applicant is not full-time.

Yes, we require two letters of recommendation for each application. If the applicant does not get two letters of recommendation submitted on their behalf, their application will be deemed incomplete. 

Awarded students (finalists) will receive the list of any additional requirements in their scholarship notification letters. AISES will/may require an official or unofficial transcript, enrollment verification, a direct deposit form, a recent photo, a thank you and/or cover letter to the scholarship donor to be uploaded in OASIS. 

Yes! We accept unofficial transcripts for grade and institution verification. 

AISES disperses scholarship payments on a rolling basis for all of our scholarships from September through October. 

If a scholar is awarded a scholar but changes their field of study to an area not supported by their scholarship, they should reach out to the AISES Student Success Team as soon as possible. It will be at the discretion of the funder of the scholarship if the student can be re-awarded in the spring.  

AISES asks that scholars let the Student Success Team of ANY changes to their field of study, their full-time status, institution location, and graduation. 

AISES requires that their scholars be full-time during the academic year they are awarded. We understand that things happen and every situation is unique, so if a scholar drops before full-time status, the scholar will need to let the AISES Student Success Team ASAP.   

Unfortunately, no.  In the United States, the term “Indian” is often used to refer to Native Americans, and American Indians.  In Canada, the term commonly used is First Nations people.  This term “Indian” is used in the acronym of AISES, American Indian Science & Engineering Society, but this term refers to Native Americans, American Indians, and First Nations People.   

Applicants must be an enrolled citizen or a descendant of an enrolled citizen of a federal or state recognized American Indian Tribe or Alaska Native Village; or Native Hawaiian or descendant from a Native Hawaiian; or Pacific Islander or descendant from Pacific Islander; or an Indigenous person of Canada.  Enrollment documents and/or a copy of birth certificate(s) showing descendancy from an enrolled citizen, Indigenous group of Canada, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander are acceptable.  Applicants may also, instead, provide a copy of their Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood or Certificate of Degree of Alaska Native Blood (CDIB) card.  Please note, AISES may not always have scholarships available for non-citizens of the United States.

Students will begin to be notified starting on June 1 and continuing through July 31.   

If you have questions about AISES Scholarships, or your school requires that documents be sent by mail, please send an e-mail to scholarships@aises.org, or mail to: AISES Scholarship Department, 6899 Winchester Circle, STE 102A, Boulder, CO 80301. You can also reach us by phone at 720-552-6123.

For students who are not enrolled tribal citizens themselves but are able to prove that their parents or grandparents have tribal enrollment, the following is very important:

You must prove your descendancy through a paper trail. You will need the following items to do so:

  1.  Your birth certificate (which identifies your parents’ names).
  2.  Your parent’s tribal enrollment document/CDIB. (If both parents are enrolled tribal citizens, you only need one of their tribal enrollment documents).
    1. If you are proving descendancy to a grandparent, Steps 1-2 must be repeated by using your parent’s birth certificate and grandparent’s tribal enrollment document. 

Once these documents are collected, please upload them as ONE document to your AISES application. 

Examples of tribal documents may include:
– Official letter from the tribe stating the enrollment status of the parent and/or grandparent;
– A copy of the Tribal ID card; or
– CIB (Certificate of Indian Blood)

Please note that DNA results from sites like Ancestry.com, 23&Me, MyHeritage DNA, etc. do NOT prove tribal descent and therefore CANNOT be used for verification of tribal descent. 

Yes!  Architecture is considered a STEM major; students majoring in architecture qualify for the AT Anderson Scholarship and the 3M Scholarship (if you are an incoming college freshman). 

 

Information for Scholarship Seekers (from the National Scholarship Providers Association)

  • We encourage you to talk to your high school counselor(s) about scholarships and ask them to inform you about upcoming opportunities. Scholarship providers often send information to high school counselors so use them as a resource. Many high schools post scholarship opportunities/deadlines on a bulletin board or on their website on a regular basis. If your high school doe not do that, it could be a useful suggestion to offer.
  • Do not wait until you're accepted, but talk to the college or university admission professionals and/or financial aid administrators at the schools in which you are interested in as soon as possible. Find out what type of scholarships and financial aid they can offer and how to go about applying for these funds. If you know what your academic major might be, talk to that particular department as well. Individual departments often offer their own scholarships that are not necessarily awarded through the college's financial aid office.
  • If you have received your financial aid package (when or after you've been accepted), including any private scholarships you've been awarded, and the amount you still owe is more than your family can realistically afford, ask the college you hope to attend about options to appeal. Most colleges have an appeal process which might lead to a few more dollars towards your college expenses. This is no guarantee, and we don't recommend taking advantage of this process if you don't actually need additional monies, but it never hurts to ask. Also, don't be afraid to take a work study or other part-time job to contribute to your education and living expenses. Many students work part-time and there are studies showing that students who work on average no more than 12 hours each week do better in school because they learn better time management skills and are investing in their own education.
  • Be sure that you fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) when it becomes available on or after October 1st each year. Studies have shown that students who apply for financial aid during the first three months of the FAFSA submission period (beginning October 1) tend to receive twice as much grant (free) money on average as students who apply later in the financial aid application process. Many colleges have priority deadlines for filing the FAFSA, so be sure you meet those dates to receive the most funding possible. Apply early to be sure to get first in line for funding opportunities from the school and the state. The FAFSA is what colleges, the government, and some scholarship providers use to determine your estimated family contribution (EFC) and demonstrated financial need which, in turn, determines which grants, loans, and scholarships you might be eligible to receive. If you don't complete and submit the FAFSA by each school’s priority deadline date, you may not be eligible for any aid from the federal government given through your college. Many scholarship providers ask for your FAFSA information as well. If you have questions about this, contact your high school counselor(s) or the financial aid office at the college you are considering attending.
  • While nation-wide scholarships often award large scholarships, local scholarships tend to have better odds for "winning" since you're often competing against fewer students. Apply for as many scholarships as you can (even $500 and $1,000 awards can add up), but use good time and resource management skills to prioritize how much time you should spend on each application and divide your time and effort accordingly. For example, if a local foundation is awarding ten $1,000 scholarships and a big corporation is awarding one $10,000 scholarship, apply for both, but put more effort into the application for the local scholarship. Even though it's just $1,000, your chances of being selected are probably greater.
  • We advise students to never pay for scholarship or financial aid information. Services that ask for payment are often scams, and even if they are not, there are many free resources available.
  • For great resources for all things dealing with student financial aid including scholarship resources, visit sites such as www.finaid.org, www.collegeboard.com and www.edvisors.com.​
  • Check out ScholarSnapp.org. Snapp allows you to create a profile with the standard content requested by scholarship applications. Saving this data in one secure, centralized place allows you to reuse the content for other scholarship applications without requiring you to retype your personal information for each subsequent application.

We wish you the best of luck in securing a scholarship and in your future educational endeavors. YOU can do this!

Information about Federal Financial Aid Resources
Do not assume that you will not qualify for federal financial aid (the Pell Grant or Work Study). See these links and complete your FAFSA Form!

7 Things You Need Before You Fill Out the 2018–19 FAFSA® Form
https://blog.ed.gov/2017/09/7-things-need-fill-2018-19-fafsa-form/

Additional Support for Native American College Students
https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/native-american-scholarships-resources/

https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/native-american-scholarships-resources/