Barry Goldwater Scholarships

Scholarship Sponsored by Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence In Education Foundation

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 to serve as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate.

By providing scholarships to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, the Goldwater Foundation is helping ensure that the U.S. is producing the number of highly-qualified professionals the Nation needs in these critical fields. Over its 30-year history, Goldwater Scholarships have been awarded to thousands of undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to win other prestigious awards like the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship, Rhodes Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship that support our Scholars’ graduate school work. Today, Goldwater alumni can be found conducting research that is helping defend the Nation, finding cures for catastrophic diseases and teaching future generations of scientists, mathematicians and engineers.

Programmatic

• In past years, students could only be nominated for the Goldwater scholarship if they were enrolled full-time in the year they were nominated. For the 2024 competition, a student who is part-time may be nominated. As in the past, a student must be a full-time matriculated student during the academic terms when they receive financial support from the Foundation.
• Students may now be nominated by the school the student is currently enrolled OR by a school from which the student matriculated (e.g., a community college). A student may not be nominated by more than one institution during a competition cycle.
• For 2024, the Research Essay must have a title.
• The Foundation added a description of the review process in the Program Essentials section.
• Hyperlinks should not be included in the applicant’s essays or in the letters of recommendation. Reviewers will not use these links.

CR Dashboard Nomination Process

New for 2024, Campus Representatives may nominate up to six students if they have both a transfer student and a U.S. Veteran (i.e., their fifth and sixth nominees cannot be two transfer students or two U.S. Veterans).