High school graduates and community college transfer students from low-income families who demonstrate academic merit are automatically considered for scholarships of up to $15,000 annually to pursue a bachelor's degree, or up to $20,000 to pursue a master's degree, from Illinois Tech's College of Computing through its Supporting Pathways for Advancing Readiness in Computing: AI, Mathematics, Cybersecurity, and Statistics (SPARC) Scholarship program.
SPARC Scholarship Benefits
SPARC scholars will have avenues to mentorship through a three-pronged approach:
- Academic guidance from at least one College of Computing faculty mentor
- Career coaching and networking from an alumni industry mentor
- Help adjusting to university culture and discovering campus resources from an upperclassman peer mentor
Other benefits include opportunities to apply classroom knowledge to open-ended, real-life projects and internships, as well as cohort-building through extracurricular activities, student-led organizations, and team competitions.
Scholarships not only cover the costs of tuition and fees but may also be used to defray costs of room and board, textbooks, transportation, or even laptops.
NSF Prestige
The SPARC Scholarship program is securely funded by the National Science Foundation's prestigious Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant. Scholarships are awarded in recognition of academic excellence and capability in STEM fields to help further the NSF's mission of ensuring a pipeline of people and ideas to solve pressing global challenges.
S-STEM aims to increase the number of academically talented, low-income students who are earning degrees in STEM fields, to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.
Questions?
Send an email for more information about SPARC
Qualifying Programs
Those who are pursuing the following College of Computing degrees may qualify for a SPARC scholarship:
- Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics
- Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence
- Bachelor of Science in Applied Cybersecurity and Information Technology
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
- Bachelor of Science in Data Science
- Bachelor of Science in Statistics
SPARC scholars may also combine their bachelor's degree with the following master's degrees:
- Master of Applied Mathematics
- Master of Science in Applied Mathematics
- Master of Artificial Intelligence
- Master of Computer Science
- Master of Cybersecurity
- Master of Science in Computer Science
- Master of Data Science
- Mater of Science in Computational Decision Science and Operations Research
- Master of Cyber Forensics and Security
- Master of Science in Information Technology and Management
- Master of Information Technology and Management
- Master of Science in Applied Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics
