Thanks to nearly 200 donors, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) will make $50 million in college scholarships available to FIRST participants and Alumni.

The FIRST Scholarship Program connects FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition participants and alumni with colleges, universities, corporations, and associations making available nearly 2,000 scholarship opportunities exclusively set aside for FIRST participants.

These scholarships will be available to high-school participants and FIRST Alumni in the following programs:

• In the FIRST Tech Challenge, teams of students design, build, and program their robots to compete head to head.
• FIRST Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Teams are given six weeks to build and program a robot to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors.

“This is a tremendous milestone for the FIRST Scholarship program,” says Donald E. Bossi, President, FIRST. “Our commitment to these students does not stop once they have graduated from high school. By making the FIRST Scholarship Program available, we continue to put these kids on the path to success even after they have aged out of FIRST programs and become FIRST Alumni. This milestone amount of $50 million worth of college scholarships demonstrates that our Scholarship Providers are invested in the future of these students as well.”

One such Provider, Stevens Institute of Technology, continues to grow its support in developing these future leaders. Within the 2017 FIRST Scholarship Program, Stevens is making available up to 50 $6,000 renewable Scholarships (up to a total of $24,000 each).

FIRST Alumni make up:

• 36 percent of this past year’s incoming freshman class at Olin College of Engineering
• 30 percent of this past year’s freshman class at Capitol Technology Institute
• 10 percent of this past year’s freshman class at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“The FIRST Scholarship Program enabled me to attend the best engineering institution in the country; a feat that would have been a pipe dream otherwise,” says Adam Cyran, a FIRST Alumnus and scholarship recipient on track to graduate from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2018 with a degree in mechanical engineering. “I owe it to FIRST for affording me the opportunity to pursue my passion at such a high level. Being involved with this program has allowed me to enter the real world debt-free and set me on the path to continue growing as a leader in the STEM workforce.”