ACEC California Scholarship

Scholarship Sponsored by American Council on Engineering Companies

Overview
The ACEC California Scholarship Foundation awards annual scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to students studying engineering and land surveying at California colleges. For the 2026–2027 (26‑27) academic year, the Foundation will distribute up to $100,000 in scholarships. In addition, some applicants who attend school, live, or list a hometown in Riverside/San Bernardino, Orange County, Los Angeles, or San Diego may be eligible for additional chapter awards totaling as much as $50,000 from local ACEC California chapters. Applying to the ACEC California Scholarship also provides access to other opportunities through the ACEC Research Institute Scholarship Portal.

Who is eligible
To be considered for an ACEC California Scholarship, applicants must meet the following requirements:

- Academic standing and timing
- Be entering their junior, senior, fifth year undergraduate, or master’s year in Fall 2026. Students who graduate in December 2025 or Spring 2026 are not eligible.
- Enrollment status for the 26‑27 academic year
- Upper‑division undergraduates: enrolled full‑time in an ABET‑accredited engineering or land‑surveying curriculum.
- Master’s students: enrolled at least half‑time and either enrolled in an ABET‑accredited Master of Science (MS) engineering program or hold a Bachelor of Science (BS) from an ABET‑accredited engineering program.
- Grade point average
- For ACEC California’s State Competition, applicants must have at least a 3.2 GPA in completed engineering and land‑surveying courses and a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Career interest
- Demonstrated interest in possibly pursuing a career in consulting engineering or land surveying.
- Citizenship
- U.S. citizenship is not required to apply for ACEC California scholarships. However, certain chapter scholarships and ACEC National scholarships do require U.S. citizenship.

Before you begin the online application
Prepare the following materials and items so your application can be completed without delay:

- Two essays, each with a 250‑word limit:
1. Describe what inspired you to pursue engineering (a personal experience, moment, or influence).
2. Explain the specific industry or type of firm where you plan to use your engineering degree.
- Unofficial transcripts that include Fall 2025 grades.
- FAFSA Student Aid Report (only required if you are applying for need‑based scholarships).
- Review the eligibility criteria above to confirm you qualify.

Online application steps and recommendation requirement
1. Create an account on the ACEC Research Institute portal.
2. Complete the General Application.
3. Request a recommendation using the recommendation form. Send it to a consulting engineer, consulting land surveyor, engineering professor, mentor, or supervisor. (Additional consideration is given if the recommender is a consulting engineer or land surveyor.)
4. Submit your ACEC California Scholarship application.
5. Apply for any other scholarships for which you qualify via the portal.
6. Monitor your application status: your application is NOT complete until the recommendation form has been submitted by your recommender. Confirm that the recommendation has been completed by 9:00 p.m. PST on Friday, March 13, 2026.

Important note for recommenders
Recommendation requests are delivered through the ACEC Research Institute system. Ask your recommender to check junk or spam folders if they do not see the email, and to safelist noreply@mail.awardspring.com so the request is received.