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Paying for your Education

Students smile with scholarship certificates in hand.

There are several ways students can make their construction education more affordable at Virginia Tech.

Undergraduate Students

Scholarships

These are awarded based on combinations of financial need and academic performance as well as demonstrated leadership, service, and commitment to a career in construction.

Assistantships

These provide compensation for students to support Myers-Lawson administration, teaching and research. You can apply by submitting your resume to the portal below. Applications are reviewed as positions open.

These positions include lab, teaching, research, and administrative assistants. Students are compensated at an hourly rate. Tuition is not covered. Additional details can be found in the portal link below.

You are recommended to keep an updated application on file.

Wage Application Portal

Graduate Students

Scholarships

These are awarded based on combinations of financial need and academic performance as well as demonstrated leadership, service, and commitment to a career in construction. Each have specific criteria listed below.

Assistantships

These provide compensation for students to support Myers-Lawson administration, teaching and research.

You can apply by submitting your resume to the portal below. Applications are reviewed as positions open. You are recommended to keep an updated application on file.

These positions include graduate teaching assistant, graduate research assistant, and graduate assistant. Students are provided with a stipend and tuition remission. Additional details can be found in the portal link below.

Contract Application Portal

These positions include lab, teaching, research, and administrative assistants. Students are compensated at an hourly rate. Tuition is not covered. Additional details can be found in the portal link below.

Wage Application Portal

Fellowships

They are highly-competitive and awarded based on outstanding academic potential and demonstrated performance. Unlike assistantships, there are no specific work expectations associated with fellowships.

Carl "Buck" Belt ’68 and Jane Adkisson Belt ’70 created the graduate fellowship in 2014 and increased their annual graduate fellowship distributions as part of the College of Engineering's Moraco Challenge.

  • Level: Doctorate
  • Program: Environmental Design and Planning
  • Criteria: U.S. citizen or permanent resident, 3-year max award for any one student, current assistantship
  • Selection: Demonstrated leadership during the graduate program of study

Awards are dispersed as a supplement to an existing assistantship stipend for the award period.

  • Level: Doctorate
  • Program: Environmental Design and Planning
  • Criteria: Academic potential
  • Selection: Research advisors nominate incoming students, nominees are reviewed by a committee

This fellowship was established in 2006 by A. Ross Myers ’72 and John R. Lawson ’75 as part of the initial endowment that established the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech. Since then, the Fellowship has supported the recruitment of high-quality doctoral students interested in pursuing impactful research in the construction industry and the built environment. Incoming PhD students are nominated by their faculty advisor.

  • Level: Doctorate
  • Program: Environmental Design and Planning
  • Criteria: Current assistantship
  • Selection: Academic merit, first-author journal publications

Awards are dispersed as a supplement to an existing assistantship stipend for the award period.

  • Level: Doctorate
  • Program: Environmental Design and Planning
  • Criteria: U.S. citizen or permanent resident, Current assistantship
  • Selection: Academic merit, first-author journal publications

Awards are dispersed as a supplement to an existing assistantship stipend for the award period.

Student-Initiated Fellowships

These are available from sources outside the university such as the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Graduate School maintains a listing of these opportunities and provides training workshops to support applications. Students should work with their primary advisors to prepare these.

Virginia Tech Department-Initiated Fellowships 

The Graduate School offers several fellowships and scholarships restricted to students at Virginia Tech. Many of these fellowships require a departmental nomination. To request a departmental nomination, contact your primary advisor.

Application Information

To be considered for scholarships and some fellowships, students must have an application on file at Virginia Tech. Applications are due annually on January 15 for full consideration. 

  1. Complete the General Scholarship Application (required for all) and the College of Engineering's Application (only for undergraduate students). Both of these applications must be completed through Scholarship Central.
  2. Complete the MLSoC Scholarship Application.

Students should update their application file each year to be competitive.

Helpful Links

Earn While You Learn

This program provides students with extended internships during the fall and spring semesters after a summer internship. Students work virtually or in-person as an intern earning hourly compensation and receiving scholarship support while earning course credit during the semester.

This program is open to Building Construction and Construction Engineering and Management undergraduate students only.

Upon completing a traditional summer internship with a participating company, you can continue to work for the company (in person or virtually) during the fall and/or spring semesters. For your work of 10 or 20 hours a week with the company, you will also receive up to three or six-course credits through CEM 3984: Construction Internship Experience, or CEM 4984: Construction Internship Experience. The company will pay you minimum wage plus a tuition stipend.

If you are a student interested in learning more or a company interested in participating, contact Ashley Johnson.