WPI FIRST Scholarships

What is it: A full-tuition, four-year undergraduate scholarship (valued at approximately $220,000) to a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), or FIRST Global Challenge (FGC) team student participant. In addition to the full-tuition scholarship, WPI offers three $40,000 scholarships ($10,000 per year for four years of undergraduate study) to applicants to the Design Innovation Scholarship who are not selected for the full-tuition award, but whose applications merit receiving an award. 

Who is eligible: Each team participating in one of the programs may nominate one of its student members. The nominee must be in their final year of high school and be an active member of their FIRST (FRC, FTC, FGC) team in the 2024-2025 season. Nominees must have submitted an admissions application to WPI and should demonstrate enthusiasm for engineering, science, and innovation.  

Please note: if multiple submissions are received from a single team, they will not be considered. Please work with your team and your mentor to determine your team’s nominee. For teams with two students interested in applying for the scholarship, we recommend that one student apply for WPI FIRST Design Innovation Scholarship, and one student apply for WPI FIRST Community Scholarship.

How to Apply: All scholarship applicants must first submit a complete admissions application to WPI no later than February 1st (Regular Decision deadline). Details on how to apply to WPI can be found here. 

Scholarship submissions can be made here (application link will be available after December 1st). The submission will consist of an application form, a signed nomination form to be completed by the adult team leader (mentor, coach, teacher, etc), and a video presentation.  

The video submission should focus on one or more of the design innovations of your team’s robot. The presentation should also touch on one of three topics: how your team builds spirit, how your team demonstrates sportsmanship, or the importance of teamwork in robot development. The most competitive applications make use of imagery (photos, videos, slides) and narration or spoken responses to the prompt. Videos must be 5 minutes or less in length.  

What is it: A full-tuition, four-year undergraduate scholarship (valued at approximately $220,000) to a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), or FIRST Global Challenge (FGC) team student participant. 

Who is eligible: Each team participating in one of the challenges may nominate one of its student members. The nominee must be in their final year of high school and be an active member of their FIRST (FRC, FTC, FGC) team in the 2024-2025 season. Nominees must have submitted an admissions application to WPI and should demonstrate enthusiasm for engineering, science, and innovation. 

Please note, if multiple submissions are received from a single team, they will not be considered. Please work with your team and your mentor to determine your team’s nominee. For teams with two students interested in applying for the scholarship, we recommend that one student apply for the WPI FIRST Design Innovation Scholarship, and one student apply for the WPI FIRST Community Scholarship.  

How to Apply: All scholarship applicants must first submit a complete admissions application to WPI no later than February 1st (Regular Decision deadline). Details on how to apply to WPI can be found here. 

Scholarship submissions can be made here (application link will be available after December 1st). The submission will consist of an application form, a signed nomination form to be completed by the adult team leader (mentor, coach, teacher, etc), and a video presentation.  

The video submission should focus on how you have exemplified WPI’s values of Respect, Community, Inclusion, Innovation, and Achievement in the FIRST Community or in your life. Please be sure to touch on all five values in your submission. The most competitive applications make use of imagery (photos, videos, slides) and narration or spoken responses to the prompt. Videos must be 5 minutes or less in length.