SMART Scholarship Program

[mom2collegekids]

@Prandtl;d-2163843

The purpose of the scholarship is to retain students but most of the time govt. work is not as appealing to students especially when you factor in the wage you’ll start at. The scholarship program is nice at first but once it comes to placement timeline, wages, and what you’ll be doing is where things get a little rough. .

Everything is a trade off. Sure the pay may be lower, but if there’s an assurance of a job immediately after graduation, then that’s a plus.

If doing SMART means few/no loans are needed, then that alone can be worth $10k+ per year.

What is the post-graduation service commitment?
Upon selection, awardees are assigned to the DoD laboratory where he/she will be expected to serve as a summer intern and complete a period of post-graduation employment service as a DoD civilian.

The employment obligation to the DoD civilian Science and Technology (S&T) workforce upon graduation is a one-to-one commitment. For each academic year of a scholar’s award, he/she is required to commit to one year (12 months) of civilian employment with the DoD. Scholars who fail to comply with the degree completion and conferral time lines on their application will be required to provide an increased ratio of post-graduation service to length of award. Students will be placed in DoD laboratories in civilian positions and must be geographically mobile for placement following graduation.

For the student who needs funding, this is an excellent choice. 4 years of funding requires 4 years of working commitment. If that sounds too much, then do 2 years at a CC and then 2 years with SMART…and then only have to put in 2 years of post-grad work commitment. For the student who doesn’t have parent to pay, this is a sound option for an eng’g/STEM student.