The Colonel Kathleen Swacina Scholarship awards one female college student a $1,500 scholarship to be applied toward the student’s ongoing higher-level academic education at an accredited four-year school. Community college students in their first two years are eligible if they will continue on to an accredited four-year college or university.
Eligibility for Colonel Kathleen Swacina Scholarship
must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
-Must be a member of the U.S. Armed Forces or enrolled in a ROTC program; an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. armed forces; or a direct descendant of an AFCEA member or an honorably discharged member of the armed forces.
-Must be enrolled as a full-time college/university student at an accredited institution attending schools in or residing in the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, and Alabama, including community colleges.
Undergraduate students must be at the sophomore or junior level. Must have completed one semester in community college (if applicable).
Graduate students must have completed at least two courses but are not graduating in the current academic year.
Students must maintain an overall 2.8 GPA.
Students must major in a STEM-related area of study in support of the mission of AFCEA.
Qualifications for STEM majors related to the mission of AFCEA include:
aerospace engineering, astronomy, biometry/biometrics, chemical engineering, computer engineering, computer forensics science, computer programming, computer science, computer systems, cybersecurity, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, geospatial science, industrial engineering, information science, information technology, information resource management, intelligence, mathematics, mechanical engineering, network engineering, network security, operations research, physics, robotics engineering, robotics technology, statistics, strategic intelligence, and telecommunications engineering.
Application Process
*Please write your full name for the “Name this Entry” at the top of the application.
Submissions must include the following:
completed application, including short-answer questions, educational and career plans, and financial needs. In addition, the applicant may also describe any challenges (i.e., personal, physical, psychological, or educational) that she has had to overcome to reach this point in her educational career.
Official Transcript: with completed courses and grades, including grades from the Fall 2023 semester.
Submit electronically through the school to edfoundation@afcea.org.
If electronic submission of your transcript is not possible, please send the official document to the AFCEA address listed below to arrive by the deadline date. Please label your supporting document (name, transcript) (example: Bob Smith Transcript)
Two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a professor in the student’s STEM major field of study. Have your references submit their letters of recommendation in pdf form via email to edfoundation@afcea.org. Please label your supporting document (name, LOR) (example: Bob Smith LOR)
AFCEA Educational Foundation
4114 Legato Road, Suite 1000
Fairfax, VA 22033
Completed applications, including all supporting documentation, must be submitted by the deadline of May 1, 2024.
