The Science, Mathematics, And Research For Transformation (SMART) Defense Scholarship Program was tested as a program in 2005 under the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. SMART was fully established by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2006, and was assigned to the Navy Postgraduate School (NPS) as the managing agency in late 2005-early 2006.
The SMART scholarship program is a Department of Defense (DoD) workforce development program created to address the growing gap between America and the rest of the world in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. SMART facilitates this goal by recruiting and retaining some of the best and brightest STEM candidates in the nation.
SMART is a DoD civilian scholarship-for-service program which is a part of the National Defense Education Program (NDEP). Like other NDEP programs, SMART is funded through the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
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The program is open to current and prospective students, including current DoD employees who meet the following requirements:
While these are the minimum requirements, the average GPA is well over 3.0, with the current 2009 cohort year averaging 3.73 on a 4.0 scale.[1]
Students who are accepted receive the following benefits:
Students are required to pay back the scholarship by working with the Department of Defense in a 1-1 year ratio. This work is a paid position within a specific DoD agency.
Since SMART was officially established in 2006, the program has grown each year. Below are the combined numbers of students awarded scholarships as well as the funding history.
| Year | Awards | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 32 | $8.1 million |
| 2007 | 106 | $13.0M |
| 2008 | 178 | $13.8M |
| 2009 | 262 | $34.0M |
| 2010 | 297 | $41.0M |