NSPS runs its scholarships through the NSPS Foundation, which says it awards more than $95,000 a year across named awards such as the Berntsen, Trimble, Nettie Dracup Memorial and Trig-Star scholarships.
In the 2026 cycle the program ran on one NSPS/AAGS application: NSPS student membership ($10) for most awards, plus transcripts, three recommendation letters, a personal letter of up to 850 words and a copy of a state ID.
The 2026 deadline was February 2, 2026.
What NSPS Foundation scholarships exist?
The National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) — the society that also sponsors the Certified Survey Technician credential — makes its scholarships available through the NSPS Foundation.
The Foundation's own page says it awards over $95,000 in scholarships each year, and NSPS's scholarships page describes more than $97,000 made available through the Foundation.
NSPS puts the wider landscape at approximately $350,000 a year once state surveying societies' own scholarships are counted alongside NSPS's — separate programs, run by separate organizations.
The 2026 NSPS/AAGS application included the named awards below.
Amounts and donors change from year to year, so treat the current packet as the list that counts.
| Award (2026 application) | 2026 amount | 2026 notes |
|---|---|---|
| Berntsen International Scholarship in Surveying Technology | $2,000 | For 2-year programs |
| NSPS Scholarship | $2,000 | — |
| Nettie Dracup Memorial Scholarship | $5,000 each | 3 awards |
| Schonstedt Scholarship in Surveying | $2,000 | — |
| Walter Robillard Scholarship | $2,500 | — |
| Trimble Scholarship | $5,000 | — |
| Slavoj Scholarship | $5,000 | — |
| NJSPLS Scholarship | $5,000 | — |
| Cady McDonnel Memorial Scholarship | $5,000 | Women in 13 western states |
| AAGS Graduate Fellowship | $2,000 | — |
| Trig-Star Scholarship | $7,500 | Prior Trig-Star participants · GPA 2.7 or higher |
The Trig-Star Scholarship is the exception to the membership rule: it takes no membership, and it goes to past participants of NSPS's Trig-Star competition rather than to the general applicant pool.
2026-cycle figures
Who is eligible?
Membership is the first eligibility filter.
NSPS student membership, at $10, is required for most of the Foundation's awards.
Two AAGS awards run differently: the AAGS Graduate Fellowship and the AAGS Joseph F. Dracup award ask for AAGS student membership, at $20, instead of NSPS membership.
The 2026 application also attached award-specific restrictions.
The Berntsen International Scholarship in Surveying Technology is earmarked for 2-year programs, and the Cady McDonnel Memorial Scholarship is for women from 13 western states, as the application defined them.
The Trig-Star Scholarship comes with its own rules: $7,500 in 2026, restricted to prior Trig-Star participants who plan to enroll in — or are already enrolled in — a 2- or 4-year surveying or closely related program, with a GPA of 2.7 or higher.
Trig-Star itself is NSPS's annual high school mathematics competition, built on the practical application of trigonometry.
The scholarship is a separate award from the competition's prizes.
Every other award's full criteria — enrollment status, field of study, anything else — sit in that award's own section of the packet, so read the current application rather than assuming one shared rule across the list.
What does the application need?
The 2026 NSPS/AAGS application asked for four things on top of membership: transcripts, three recommendation letters, a personal letter and a copy of a state ID.
Of the three letters, one had to come from a faculty member.
The personal letter was capped at 850 words, and the packet was explicit that composition through artificial intelligence is prohibited — the letter has to be your own writing.
- Join the right association first: NSPS student membership ($10) for most awards, or AAGS student membership ($20) for the two AAGS awards.
- Request your transcripts early enough to have them in hand before the deadline.
- Line up three recommenders, and make one of them a faculty member.
- Write the personal letter yourself, inside the 850-word cap — AI-written letters were prohibited in 2026.
- Include a copy of your state ID.
That was the 2026 shape of the application.
Each cycle's packet controls, so re-check the list when NSPS posts the new one.
When is the deadline?
The 2026 NSPS/AAGS scholarship application had to be received by February 2, 2026, at 5:00 pm Eastern — a received-by deadline, not a postmark date.
NSPS said the 2027 application would be available in fall 2026.
No 2027 deadline had been published when this page was researched, so do not plan around last cycle's date.
In 2026, the Trig-Star Scholarship sat in the same NSPS/AAGS application packet as the Foundation awards, so one deadline covered it as well.
Working backward from a received-by date is the practical move: faculty recommenders and registrar transcripts both run on other people's calendars.
Scholarships fund one part of the route into surveying; the rest runs from a first crew job through licensure.
The land surveyor career guide walks the full path.
Career information, not legal or financial advice — confirm each cycle's awards, requirements and deadlines with NSPS.
No 2027 deadline yet