College of Agriculture & Natural Resources│College of Engineering Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering

Scholarship Resources - BAE typically awards around $50,000 worth of scholarships yearly to current students.

Click here to see past awards.

Total scholarship numbers and award levels vary by year based upon investment returns.

Biosystems Engineering Undergraduate Scholarships

• A.W. Farrall Scholarship (~$2,500): The most prestigious, based on academic achievement and leadership.
• Clarence & Thelma Hansen Scholarship (~$2,000): Based on academic achievement and leadership, with preference to Michigan residents and those with farming backgrounds.
• Howard & Esther McColly Scholarship (~$1,500): Freshman or sophomores only, based on academic achievement and leadership.
• George & Betty Merva Scholarship (~$1,000): Juniors or seniors only, based on academic achievement and leadership.
• F.W. Bakker-Arkema Scholarship (~$1,000): Freshman and sophomore preference, based on contributions to cultural and intellectual enrichment of BE.
• Gustafson Scholarship (~$1,000): Incoming freshman preference, based on high academic ability and/or financial need.
• Walter M. & Lillie M. Carleton Scholarship (~$300-500): Based on academic achievement and leadership.
• Mynsberge Experiential Learning and Taylor Scholarships (~$2,500): Candidates must conduct experiential learning in water resource recovery, water quality, wastewater treatment, and/or renewable energy. The selected student(s), undergraduate or graduate, will work with a BAE faculty member for the experiential learning experience. The award has an expectation that the student presents their experience at a MSU or professional research conference.

Additional evaluation/selection criteria include:

• Outstanding Research: Based on excellence in research as an undergraduate.
• Non-traditional or returning student: For students returning to start a second career and those balancing school, work, and/or family. Please indicate why you believe you are eligible for this award on application form.
• Education Abroad: For students who will participate in a study abroad related to their career objectives. Please indicate why you believe you are eligible for this award on application form and what program you will participate in.

Application deadline is February 28 each year. Students submit one application and resume for consideration in all award areas to the MSU Biosystems and Ag. Engineering Scholarships D2L dropbox. Announced via e-mail to BE students in January.

The undergraduate application is completed as part of the College of Engineering application at https://scholarships.msu.edu.  The deadline is the last day of February each year.

Biosystems Engineering Graduate Scholarships and Fellowships

• Outstanding BE Research Fellowship (~$1,000): Awardee is the department's nominee for the College of Engineering (CoE) Fitch Beach Award. Fitch Beach awards are $3000 (1^st place), $2000 (2^nd place) and $1000 (3^rd place). The BAE award of $1000 would be given in addition to any Fitch Beach award.
• Most Outstanding BE Graduate Student Fellowship (~$2,000): Awardee will also be recognized by the CoE as the “Most Outstanding BE Graduate Student.”
• Katherine and Merle L. Esmay Fellowship (~$2,000): Candidates must have graduated from a high school located in a foreign country. The application must include a one-page summary outlining the candidate's desire and intent to return to the country from which he/she graduated from high school. This summary should include the candidate's plans to utilize the degree and education obtained to better his/her country in the Agricultural Industry.
• Galen and Ann Brown Scholarship (~$2,000): Candidates must be conducting fruit and vegetable related research including, but not limited to, harvest and post-harvest operations intended to preserve or enhance quality or add value to the commodity.
• Mynsberge Experiential Learning and Taylor Scholarships (~$2,500): Candidates must conduct experiential learning in water resource recovery, water quality, wastewater treatment, and/or renewable energy. The selected student(s), undergraduate or graduate, will work with a BAE faculty member for the experiential learning experience. The award has an expectation that the student presents their experience at a MSU or professional research conference. The application must include a one-page summary outlining the candidate's interests in water resource recovery, water quality, wastewater treatment, and/or renewable energy and briefly describe the general topic you would like to research if awarded this scholarship.

Application deadline is February 28 each year, except Outstanding Research / CoE Fitch Beach due 2nd Friday in December each year.Students submit one application and resume for consideration in all award areas to the MSU Biosystems and Ag. Engineering Scholarships D2L dropbox. Announced via e-mail to BE graduate students in January.

BE Graduate scholarship application in (.pdf) format
BE Graduate scholarship application in (.docx) format

Questions

Specific questions should be completed on the application form to be considered for these. All BE students with GPA >3.0 are encouraged to apply. Although each scholarship is evaluated based on slightly different criteria, only one application is needed for students to apply for all of these scholarships! If you have questions, please contact Dr. Reinhold for undergraduate scholarships and Dr. Nejadhashemi for graduate scholarships. Undergraduate applications in MS Word and pdf formats are available at BE Undergraduate scholarship application in (.pdf) format and BE Undergraduate scholarship application in (.docx) format. Graduate applications in MS Word and pdf formats are available at BE Graduate scholarship application in (.pdf) format and BE Graduate scholarship application in (.docx) format.

Additional Financial Resources

• MSU College of Engineering
• ASABE Pre-Professional
• MSU Office of Financial Aid Scholarship University-wide Search Resources and FAFSA
• Student Aid on the Web
• FinAid
• www.fastweb.com
• www.college-scholarships.com
• www.internationalstudent.com