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IEEE Power & Energy Society Scholarship Plus

About the Award

The PES Scholarship Plus Initiative provides scholarships and real world experience to undergraduates who are interested in power and energy engineering careers. Our undergraduate scholarships aim to accomplish this goal by attracting highly qualified students to the field. These students are the very individuals who will one day develop new green technologies, build the smart grid and change the way we generate and utilize power.

The IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative supports these promising students through financial assistance in the increasingly expensive enterprise of undergraduate studies.

2025-26 Award Recipients

View the announcement

PES Scholarship Plus

Award Details

Purpose:

Created in 2011, this scholarship was established to address a crucial challenge facing the field of power and energy: the significant shortage of power engineers needed to sustain and transform electric energy systems. The program awards scholarships to undergraduate students in an effort to attract top talent to the power and energy field. Furthermore, it connects scholars to companies seeking highly qualified interns and co-op students, providing them with vital career experience prior to graduation. In 2025, to meet the industry’s increasing need for power and energy professionals, the program expanded the scholarship’s eligibility to include undergraduate students working towards a degree within the IEEE fields of interest.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be:

  • Be a citizen or permanent resident of the USA or Canada and reside in IEEE Regions 1 through 7
  • Be considering a career in the electric power and energy industry
  • Be working on an engineering undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in an IEEE designated field of interest (Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications) as a full-time undergraduate student at a U.S. ABET/CEAB-accredited university in the coming academic year.
  • Preference will be provided to individuals working towards a BS in the following disciplines – Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Power Engineering, Computer Science, Data Analytics, Environmental Engineering, Renewable Energy and Sustainable Studies.
  • Be currently enrolled full-time at a university/college or community college.
  • Have a current GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent)
  • The applicant does not need to be a member of IEEE or PES for their initial application but will be required to be an IEEE PES Student Member to apply for renewal of their application.
  • After awarded the first-year scholarship, the applicant may reapply each year until graduation (for a maximum of three years). To receive the award in the second and third years, it is required to take part in some type of career experience in power and energy engineering each year.

Schedule:

  • 20 January – Application opens
  • 30 April – Deadline for applications
  • 30 June – Selection process completed by Regional Review Committees
  • 15 July – Final Decision on selected students
  • By 15 August – Scholarship recipients announced

Prize:

The number of scholarships distributed is based on the amount of funding available based on donations to the IEEE Foundation PES Scholarship Plus fund. The cost of a scholarship is the total scholarship, assuming all renewals are approved. Due to this commitment, IEEE PES will set aside funds (via the IEEE Foundation) to ensure the availability of support for a student over the expected period of the student’s scholarship. Undesignated funds for scholarships will be allocated to regions based on their PES membership levels, as of 31 December. Each Regional Selection Committee will have funding available for scholarships.

A student may receive up to three years of financial support subject to check of eligibility compliance and performances. The scholarship levels are $3,000, $3,000 and $4,000 for first, second and third years respectively. The funds shall be paid directly to the recipient’s school. All first-year recipients receive complimentary IEEE & PES Student membership.

Selection/Basis for Judging:

Selection for first-year PES scholarships is competitive. Scholarship award application will be ranked based on these factors:

  • Academic performance (based on cumulative GPA)
  • The alignment of your technical and personal interests with the power and energy engineering field
  • Your personal strengths (such as achievements, volunteer activities, work experience, your endorsement letter, etc.)
  • Strength of your institution’s academic program (based on the institution’s overall power and energy engineering curriculum)
  • You’ll have to reapply to receive the scholarships for the second and third year but as long as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements, including having had a career experience, you’ll continue to receive the scholarship in those years.

Presentation:

All scholarship recipients receive a certificate which is sent to contact at their school for presentation at a suitable occasion.

Past Award Recipients

2023 – Recipient
2022 – Appear
2021 – You
2022 – Names
2020 – Here
2019 – Would
2017 – Would
2016 – If
2015 – Like