PURPOSE: AFCEA Aberdeen seeks to recognize outstanding graduating seniors for their achievements and aid them in accomplishing their career goals.
AWARD: Each scholarship is an award of anywhere between $500 and $5,000 per year, dependent on available funding. Each scholarship can be re-applied for each year of a 4-year academic education. Scholarships will be presented to students living in/graduating from Cecil and Harford County high schools to be used in achieving education goals at the undergraduate institution of their choice.
CRITERIA: Applicants must be outstanding, well-rounded graduating high school seniors who are planning to enter and complete a STEM-related field of study. Students must generally have a high school cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, plus a combined SAT score of >1300 (or a combined ACT score of 28). Scholarship winners will be required to submit proof of academic performance. They must maintain a 3.5 college GPA and continuation of the announced major each year to continue to earn the scholarship funds.
Qualifying STEM majors related to the mission of AFCEA include (but are not limited to): Biology, Biometry/Biometrics, Computer Engineering, Computer Forensic Science, Computer Programming, Computer Science, Computer Systems, Cybersecurity, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Geospatial Science, Information Science, Information Technology, Information Resource Management, Information Systems, Intelligence, Mathematics, Network Engineering, Network Security, Operations Research, Physics, Robotics Engineering, Robotics Technology, Statistics, Strategic Intelligence, and Telecommunications Engineering.
APPLICATION EVALUATION: While GPA and test scores will be considered in evaluation, the essay questions will be heavily weighted for each candidate. Essay questions focus on the student's passion for a career in STEM and their resiliency in facing difficulties/challenges. Please be prepared to answer these questions before you start the application.
- Essay Question 1: How did you become interested in your intended career field?
- Essay Question 2: What career do you see yourself pursuing? How can that career help the National Security or Defense for the United States?
- Essay Question 3: Tell us about a difficult challenge in your life that you had to overcome and what you learned from it.
CEREMONIES AND PUBLICITY: Seniors selected for a scholarship will be notified of their selection in April and may be invited to the AFCEA Aberdeen Chapter Scholarship Awards Dinner, to occur in May or June. The names of scholarship recipients and photographs will be provided to local papers and the AFCEA International publication SIGNAL Magazine.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES: Applications will be accepted from students living in / attending high school in Cecil and Harford County. Applications must be submitted online using this application web form. Transcript must be uploaded at the time of application. Two email references are required. We will reach out directly to these references via email for letters of recommendation.
2025 High School Scholarship Application Form
DEADLINE: All application materials and documentation (transcript, emailed letters of recommendation) must be received by Mar 31, 2025.
Our 2025 scholarship application is now closed. Applications for 2026 will open in the January 2026 timeframe.