FAQs

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. 

At the University of Portland this includes the following majors: biology, biochemistry, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics, physics, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science. 

Scholarships are available to full-time seniors, as well as MAT students and can be obtained for up to three years. Undergraduates receiving the scholarship must have or be working towards a STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree and must be a US citizen, national, or permanent resident. Students who are double majors in education and a STEM field are eligible.

The University also offers scholarship support in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program at the University of Portland for career-changing STEM professionals. MAT Scholars must have an undergraduate degree in a STEM field.

The National Science Foundation defines a high need district as one that meets at least one of the following criteria:

1. It has as least one school in which 50 percent or more of the enrolled students are eligible for participation in the free and reduced price lunch program.
2. It has at least one school in which: (i) more than 34 percent of the academic classroom teachers at the secondary level (across all academic subjects) do not have an undergraduate degree with a major or minor in, or a graduate degree in, the academic field in which they teach the largest percentage of their classes; or (ii) more than 34 percent of the teachers in two of the academic departments do not have an undergraduate degree with a major or minor in, or a graduate degree in, the academic field in which they teach the largest percentage of their classes.
3. It has at least one school whose teacher attrition rate has been 15 percent or more over the last three school years.