Licensure Pathway Support Program · Track 1
Chapter Pathway Scholarship Grant
$4,000 to your chapter, awarded to your students. If your chapter already runs a scholarship program, this grant puts real money behind it, and your chapter chooses every recipient.
- Grant amount
- $4,000Once per chapter per year
- Who applies
- The chapterVia an authorized board officer
- Recipients
- 2 to 4 studentsMinimum $1,000 per award
- Application window
- RollingThrough June 1, 2027, or until funds are used
What this grant does
Your scholarship program, properly funded
Most NAAAEA chapters already have a scholarship program. What they usually lack is the money to make the awards meaningful. This grant transfers $4,000 directly to your chapter to be awarded as student scholarships during the 2026–2027 program year.
National does not select the students. Your chapter runs its own process, applies its own criteria, picks its own recipients and presents the awards under its own name, exactly as it would with chapter funds. What National asks in return is that the awards go to students on the licensure pathway, and that they are documented.
Your chapter may award the funds to
- Currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate students in an engineering, engineering technology, surveying or geomatics program at an accredited U.S. institution. ABET-accredited programs (EAC, ETAC or ANSAC) are the clearest fit for this grant.
- Currently enrolled architecture students in a NAAB-accredited professional degree program, or a pre-professional architecture degree at a NAAB-accredited school.
- High school seniors who have been accepted into, or have documented enrolment intent for, one of the programs above beginning in the 2027–28 academic year. An acceptance letter or enrolment deposit receipt is sufficient documentation.
Chapter eligibility
What your chapter has to satisfy
All eight requirements must be met at the time you apply. If your chapter falls short on one of them, tell us in the application anyway. Several are fixable in a week, and we would rather help you qualify than turn you away.
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Active NAAAEA chapter in good standing
Your chapter must be a recognised NAAAEA chapter that is currently active, meaning it holds meetings, maintains a functioning board, and operates in accordance with the national By-Laws. Chapters that are dormant, suspended or in formation are not eligible this year.
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Current on national chapter dues
Chapter dues owed to National must be paid in full through the 2026 dues year as of the date of application. This is verified against National’s records, so no receipt is needed from you. If you are unsure of your standing, settle it before applying. A chapter that pays its balance becomes eligible immediately.
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An established chapter scholarship program
Your chapter must already operate a scholarship program, not merely intend to start one. Evidence of an established program means either a documented award made in the last three years (2023 or later), or written program guidelines adopted by your chapter board that set out eligibility, application process and selection method.
You will be asked to upload one of the two on the application form.
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A named scholarship chair or committee
The chapter must designate a scholarship chair, or a committee of at least two members, responsible for running the selection. Name them on the form. This is the person National contacts about the award, and the person who signs the closing report.
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An independent, documented selection process
Recipients must be chosen by the chapter through its own documented process. Selection may not be delegated to National, and committee members must recuse themselves from any decision involving an immediate family member. Awards may not go to a member of the selecting committee, to a chapter board officer, or to their immediate family.
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Capacity to disburse inside the program year
Your chapter must be able to select recipients and disburse the full $4,000 no later than July 15, 2027, so that the awards land inside the program year. There is no shorter clock than that, so you can run your selection on whatever timetable suits your chapter. Funds still undisbursed at that date must be returned to National so they can be re-awarded.
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Agreement to credit the NCEES Foundation
Award announcements, certificates, social posts and any press must state that the scholarships are “supported in part by the NCEES Foundation through the National AAAEA Licensure Pathway Support Program.” National provides the logo files and approved wording with your award letter.
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Agreement to report outcomes
Your chapter agrees to submit a closing report within 30 days of disbursement. Reporting requirements are set out in full below. They are short, but they are a condition of the grant.
One grant per chapter per year
A chapter may receive the Chapter Pathway Scholarship Grant once in the 2026–2027 program year. Receiving it does not affect your chapter’s eligibility for the separate Grant for NAAAEA Chapters or the Grant for Student Initiatives, and it does not affect your students’ eligibility for the National AAAEA Annual Scholarship.
How applications are reviewed
What the committee weighs
Eligibility is pass or fail. Beyond that, the Licensure Pathway Review Committee scores each application on five factors. Because awards are made on a rolling first-qualified basis, a strong application submitted early is the surest route to funding.
| Factor | Weight | What a strong answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Licensure connection | 30% | A clear plan to award students in ABET-accredited engineering or surveying programs, and a statement of how the chapter raises licensure awareness with its student members, such as FE information sessions, licensed-member panels or exam prep support. |
| Strength of the selection process | 25% | Written criteria, a real committee, a defined application window and evidence of past awards made on that basis. Recusal rules in writing. |
| Reach and student pipeline | 20% | An identified pool of applicants, such as a student chapter, relationships with local universities or high school outreach, rather than a hope that students will come forward. |
| Chapter contribution | 15% | Chapter funds, sponsor dollars or in-kind support added on top of the $4,000. Matching is not required and its absence will not disqualify you, but it is weighed. |
| Readiness to disburse | 10% | A dated plan showing selection and disbursement comfortably before July 15, 2027, with a named person accountable for it. |
The Committee may award the full $4,000, award a partial amount where funds are nearly used, or defer an application to the following review with a note on what to strengthen. All decisions are final for the year. A chapter that is declined may reapply once in the same year after addressing the Committee’s notes.
Timeline
What happens after you submit
You apply
Any time between now and June 1, 2027. You receive an automatic email confirmation with a copy of your answers.
Committee review
The 15th of each month. Complete applications received by the 10th are reviewed that month. A decision reaches you by email within ten business days.
Funds transferred
Within 30 days of approval, by check or ACH to the chapter account, with an award letter, the NCEES Foundation logo pack and the reporting template.
You award and report
Select and disburse by July 15, 2027, on whatever timetable suits your chapter. Closing report due 30 days after disbursement.
Reporting
What you send back
Your closing report is how we know the grant did what it set out to do, and how we tell the story of the students it reached. It is a genuine condition of the grant rather than a formality.
The template comes with your award letter. Nothing on the list below should take more than an hour to assemble.
Closing report contents
Due 30 days after disbursement
- Each recipient’s name, institution, program of study and expected graduation year
- The amount awarded to each recipient and the date it was paid
- Proof of disbursement, such as cleared check images, transfer confirmations or signed receipts
- A short account of how recipients were selected and how many applied
- At least one photograph from the award presentation, with the subjects’ permission to use it
- One or two brief recipient testimonials Two or three sentences each is plenty.
- A copy of your public announcement showing the NCEES Foundation credit
If a report is not submitted
A chapter that does not submit its closing report is ineligible for further National grant funding until the report is filed. If you are struggling to gather something on the list, email us before the deadline rather than after it. We can almost always work around a missing photograph or a slow bank.
Application
Chapter Pathway Scholarship Grant application
To be completed by an authorized officer of the chapter board: president, vice president, treasurer or scholarship chair. Allow about fifteen minutes. Have your scholarship program guidelines or a past award record ready to upload.
Submitting an application does not create an award. Awards are made in writing by National AAAEA and are subject to available funds. Personal and chapter information submitted here is used to administer this program and to report on it as a whole. Individual applications are not shared outside National AAAEA.
Questions
Frequently asked
Our chapter owes back dues. Can we still apply?
Pay them and you are eligible the same day. Chapter dues current through the 2026 dues year is a hard requirement, but it is also the easiest one to fix. Settle the balance and then submit. If the amount owed is itself the obstacle, contact National before applying. That is a conversation worth having.
We want to start a scholarship program but do not have one yet.
Then this grant is not the right first step, because an established program is a requirement. What qualifies as “established” is deliberately modest, though. Written guidelines adopted by your chapter board are enough, even with no award yet made. Draft and adopt them, upload them, and you meet the requirement. The Grant for NAAAEA Chapters is the better route for standing up a new program.
Can we add our own money to the $4,000?
Yes, and it is weighed favourably. If your chapter adds $2,000 of its own, you may make awards totalling $6,000 on any split you choose, provided the $4,000 of grant funds is fully awarded to students and at least one recipient is in an engineering or surveying program. Say so on the form so the Committee can see it.
Can we give the whole $4,000 to one exceptional student?
No. The minimum is two recipients, and each award must be at least $1,000. The reasoning is reach. Four students who each received $1,000 and heard about the FE is a better outcome for the licensure pipeline than one student who received $4,000. If you have an exceptional candidate, nominate them for the National AAAEA Annual Scholarship, which has historically made awards well above that.
Can the award go to a student who is not Arab American?
Yes. Your chapter sets its own recipient criteria and nothing in this grant requires a recipient to be of any particular background. What is required is that the student is enrolled in, or accepted into, a qualifying accredited program.
Does the recipient have to be an NAAAEA member?
Not as a condition of this grant. Some chapters require membership in their own scholarship guidelines, which is entirely their prerogative. National neither imposes nor prohibits it here.
Can a high school senior receive the full award before they enrol?
Yes, provided you hold documentation of acceptance or enrolment intent, such as an acceptance letter or a deposit receipt. Many chapters prefer to pay a senior’s award directly to the institution, or to release it after the first semester begins. Either is acceptable, as long as the disbursement happens by July 15, 2027.
Who signs the application?
An authorized officer of the chapter board: president, vice president, treasurer or scholarship chair. The form captures a typed electronic signature, which National treats as binding on the chapter. If the signer is not the scholarship chair, name the chair separately on the form.
What if we are declined?
You receive the Committee’s notes on what fell short, and you may reapply once in the same year after addressing them. Most declines in a rolling program come down to two things: dues not current, or no documented selection process. Both are fixable.
The Chapter Pathway Scholarship Grant is Track 1 of the National AAAEA Licensure Pathway Support Program, supported in part by the NCEES Foundation. National AAAEA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Award amounts, criteria and availability are subject to available funds and may be revised. The version published on this page governs. Questions: comm@aaaea.org.