Each year since 2015, the AAUW Reston-Herndon Area Branch has offered an annual scholarship of $1000 for a Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) student who meets the established criteria.

All students who reside in one of the following zip codes are eligible to apply.

1. In addition to the residency requirement, to be eligible, the student must:
   • Attend a NOVA campus either on a full-time or part-time basis;
   • Demonstrate financial need through completion of a FAFSA (Federal Application for Federal Student Aid);
   • Be a student in good standing;
   • Have successfully completed 12 credit hours or more;
   • Be a student returning to higher education;
   • intend to enter a STEM field;
   • Submit an essay on the topic of “The importance of gender equality and how it has affected me or someone I know.”

The NVCC Educational Foundation oversees the awarding of scholarships.  The Foundation has approximately $500,000 in scholarship money available from a wide source of donors on an annual basis. There is a $4000 cap per year that can be awarded to a student. The scholarship can potentially cover two 3 credit courses with residual monies for books.

Selection Process
The AAUW Reston-Herndon Branch scholarship recipient is selected each year by the NVCC Scholarship Committee according to the guidelines set by the Reston-Herndon branch.

Scholarship Funds
The NVCC Educational Foundation maintains an individual account for scholarship winners who then receive credits towards tuition/ books.

2020-21 Transition Year
It was the intention of our branch to support the annual NVCC scholarship through the 2020-21 academic year; however, notification of a change in the eligibility criteria at the college late in the process, which triggered the need to re-work our local criteria for foundation approval, resulted in missing the opportunity to identify a worthy recipient for 2020-21. The eligibility criteria listed above is new and fully conforms to Northern Virginia Community College Title IX requirements.

The Reston-Herndon Area Branch typically raises scholarship funds primarily through basket raffles held during our “Friends Giving” Luncheon each year, supplemented by profits from other periodic events and 50/50 raffles, as needed. In lieu of funding this scholarship for the last school year, available branch funds were used to assist with needs in the local community through a Charitable Giving Program. Our first donation in September 2020 was a $140 contribution toward the purchase of  student headsets with microphones to support the online learning of students at Terraset Elementary School in Reston.

For inquiries and additional information, please contact NOVA Scholarship Liaison, Dr. Jean Ann Linney at jeanann.linney <at> gmail.com or send a message to the branch aauwreston@aauw.net .