NSCA Challenge Scholarship

The NSCA Foundation awards hundreds of thousands in Scholarship funding each year to outstanding individuals within the strength and conditioning community. We are one of the few foundations that funds the strength and conditioning community for high school students through senior investigators.

Important Dates

Applications open August 1 (12am MTN) and close mid-October (11:59 am MTN) annually. There is only one application cycle per year. There is no early access to start the application process, you must wait until August 1 at 12am MTN. Late materials are not accepted. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure they complete the application on time. No paper copies or documents will be accepted, all materials must be submitted and completed via the application portal.

Qualifications

1. Part-Time and Full-Time Degree-Seeking Student (Associate's Degree/Undergraduate Degree/Graduate Degree-Masters/Doctoral)
2. Fully Completed Application no later than October 11:59am on the due date. It is the applicants' responsibility to ensure all required information is provided by the due date. Late materials will not be accepted under any conditions.
3. 3 recommendations *These cannot come from NSCA Staff, NSCA Affiliate Staff, NSCA Foundation Staff, NSCA/NSCA Foundation Board Members, or Scholarship Committee/Panel Members.
4. Current Resume
5. Transcripts from each school attended (do not have to be official)
6. The pursuant degree is in a strength and conditioning-related field.
7. The applicant has not won this award twice previously.
8. Is not a current member of the NSCA Foundation Board of Directors, Scholarship Review Committee, NSCA Board of Directors, NSCA/NSCA Affiliate Employee, or employee's family member.
9. Is a member of the NSCA Member or an NSCA International Affiliate member at the time of submitting the application and at the time of award (if applicable).

Eligible Degrees

All scholarship applicants must NSCA members and be pursuing a degree and career in the strength and conditioning field. Preferred degree majors may include:

• Exercise Science
• Human Performance
• Physical Therapy
• Strength and Conditioning
• Athletic Training
• Personal Training
• Exercise Physiology
• Human Biology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Physical Education
• Kinesiology
• Sport Science
• Physiotherapy
• Sport Coaching
• Education
• Health
• Sports and Fitness Administration
• Sports Medicine
• Sports Studies
• Chiropractic

Scholarship Application Review Process

• Applications close in October.
• Applications reviewed and assigned to Scholarship Committee Members by Scholarship Committee Chair (~1-2 weeks)
• Applications reviewed by Scholarship Committee Members (~3-4 weeks)
• Applications reviewed by Scholarship Committee Chair (~1-2 weeks)
• Applicants notified of award status

Scholarship Scoring Criteria

Our Scholarship Committee & Panel Members will review the following items on our scholarship application:

• Grades/GPA
• Courses Completed
• Overall Academic Achievement
• Strength and Conditioning Experience
• NSCA Involvement
• Honors and Awards
• Community Involvement
• Essays that are based on clarity, expression, goals, lucidity, grammar, and articulateness
• Recommendations (Applications do not require letters of recommendation, they require a recommendation rubric to be completed. The recommender's email is entered into the application and they receive a link to a recommendation rubric to complete. When they are done completing the rubric the results will be recorded with the associated application.)