Gas Engineering Scholarships

Find Money to Become a Petroleum Engineer

Petroleum engineers take responsibility for supervising and improving methods for extracting and processing hydrocarbons like oil and natural gas. There is a great deal of exciting work underway in this field, primarily because easily extracted fossil fuel resources are now relatively scarce. The oil and gas industry is turning to deposits that were not previously cost-effective to remove, like oil shale, tar sands, and oil located at great depths, meaning under high pressure.

Working some of these deposits presents considerable physical difficulties. For example, a petroleum engineer supervising deep oceanic drilling will need to exert enough downward pressure to keep the hydrocarbons (methane and oil) from shooting upward while not fracturing the containing strata and allowing the hydrocarbons to escape, which is a very delicate proceeding. You’ll learn the geophysics and mathematical skills you need to undertake such hazardous projects in engineering school, and travel around the world using your knowledge.

The information below does not cover every existing award, but presents a overview of what to expect in terms of financial aid.

Government Scholarships

The U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowships, a summer internship program. Minority and female students are preferred, but anyone studying a STEM subject (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) is welcome to apply. You must be at least a sophomore in college with a GPA of 3.0.

The stipends are generous, ranging from $600 per week for an undergraduate to $850 for students at or above the doctoral level. Travel expenses are included.

Scholarships From Colleges

West Virginia University

West Virginia University’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering program has a policy of considering all students for its departmental undergraduate scholarships. Scholarships are distributed based on financial need and scholastic achievement, and to keep an award once given, your GPA cannot fall below 2.75, nor can you enroll for less than 14 hours a semester.

Penn State

The John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State lists several scholarships for students majoring in petroleum and natural gas engineering:

• The Victor and Anna Mae Beghini Scholarship for Petroleum Engineers goes to full-time majors with a GPA of at least 2.7 who have financial need.
• The Luther T. Bissey Memorial Scholarship is intended for a student with a strong academic record.
• The Rev. Fr. Fabian Cloutier Scholarship is reserved for first-generation students who can demonstrate financial need.
• The Richard P. and John N. Davis Scholarship is given to a student who can show both academic achievement and financial need.

University of Houston

The Petroleum Engineering Program belonging to the University of Houston provides several interesting scholarships, including these:

• The departmental scholarship reserved for Petroleum Engineering (PE) majors requires a GPA of 3.0 (both overall and in major courses). There is a similar scholarship for new PE students, but with higher academic standards (3.5 GPA, rank in top ten percent of graduating class, and minimum SAT of 1300).
• The Unconventional Resources Special Interest Group Scholarship hands out annual awards of $2,000 each to students specializing in Reservoir Characterization, particularly Unconventional Resources Petrophysics.

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas administers a significant amount of departmental scholarship assistance for students in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. Annual amounts vary between $2,000 and $5,000, and there is an 18-page manual that gives details on available options. There are a number of special-purpose scholarships for minorities and women, for student writers (participation in the Kansas Engineer magazine is required), and for rewarding academic excellence.

Professional Organizations

Society of Petroleum Engineers

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), both as a national group and as individual regional sections, funds a number of scholarships for students in the field. Here are some of the current national offerings:

• The Gus Archie Memorial Scholarship, for an academically superior undergraduate, pays $6,000 every year and can be renewed for four years. You must maintain a course load equivalent to two-thirds of full time to keep your eligibility.
• The Star Scholarship (for undergraduates) and Fellowship (for graduate students) are given only to SPE student members. They can be used for school expenses other than tuition, such as books and housing.
• The Nico van Wingen Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Petroleum Engineering specifies that applicants must belong to a recognized student chapter of SPE. You must be seeking a doctorate and planning an academic career. The van Wingen is worth $5,000 per year.

SPE Sections

SPE is divided into regional subgroups called sections, and many sections provide scholarship aid on their own. Here are a few examples from the choices available for the U. S.:

• The Billings Petroleum Section funds two $1,500 awards for students in the petroleum engineering programs at Montana Tech and Montana State. One award goes to a sophomore and the other to a junior or senior.
• The scholarships given by the Mississippi Section to permanent residents of that state range between $2,000 and $3,000.
• The Pittsburgh Petroleum Section has a list of criteria, such as a GPA of 3.0, full-time enrollment, and SPE membership.