June 17, 2026

Top Scholarships for Construction Management Majors 2026

Construction management student reviewing blueprints on a job site

Construction management is one of the few fields where you can walk out with a bachelor's degree and realistically earn six figures within five years of graduating. The Bureau of Labor Statistics pegged the median pay for construction managers at $104,900 in 2023, and demand keeps climbing as aging infrastructure and housing shortages drive a decade-long build cycle. Yet most students in the major leave free money on the table. Industry associations, regional chapters, and state agencies have set up scholarship programs that go underfilled every year simply because applicants don't know they exist.

This guide covers the programs most worth your time — with real amounts, real deadlines, and honest advice on which ones you can actually win.

The Core Industry Association Scholarships

These are the programs built specifically for construction management students. They carry the most credibility on a resume and tend to offer renewable awards, which matters more than a single one-time check.

The AGC Education and Research Foundation is probably the most well-known. Since its founding, it has awarded over $11 million to more than 4,500 students. Undergraduate recipients get $2,500 per year for up to three years; graduate students receive $3,750 per year for up to two years. The catch is that your program must be accredited by ABET, ACCE, or select ATMAE programs. Applications for the 2026–27 academic year open July 1, 2026 — mark that date, because many students miss the window by not knowing when the portal launches.

The CMAA Foundation runs four distinct scholarship tracks under one roof. The flagship Foundation Scholarship Program awards between $1,000 and $10,000 annually to students at accredited U.S. institutions. The Francis M. Keville Scholarship targets female students in construction management with demonstrated leadership; its 2026 deadline is June 30. The Erica Lynn First Generation Scholarship serves first-generation students specifically. Each track has its own eligibility rules, so check them individually — they're not interchangeable.

"The CMAA NorCal chapter alone distributes up to $23,000 through five individual scholarships in a single cycle. Regional chapters often exceed what national programs offer."

National Programs Worth Bookmarking

Beyond the two heavyweights above, several other national organizations have consistent funding for construction-related students.

Program	Award Amount	Deadline	GPA Req.
AGC Education & Research Foundation (UG)	$2,500/yr (up to 3 yrs)	Opens July 1, 2026	Program-based
CMAA Foundation Program	Up to $10,000/yr	Closed for 2026 cycle	Varies
CMAA Francis M. Keville Scholarship	Not specified	June 30, 2026	Varies
NAWIC Founders' Scholarship Foundation	$500–$2,500	March 6 (annual)	3.0+
ACI Foundation Scholarships	$5,000–$15,000	Varies by award	Varies
Jack Boatman CM Scholarship	Up to $2,000	Varies	3.0

The NAWIC Founders' Scholarship Foundation (National Association of Women in Construction) distributes over $250,000 annually to students in construction-related programs. It's open to both men and women, which surprises a lot of people. Awards run $500 to $2,500, the GPA floor is 3.0, and the March 6 deadline is enforced without exceptions — they won't accept late transcripts.

The ACI Foundation is worth attention if your coursework touches concrete, materials, or structural systems. Their fellowships reach $10,000–$15,000 and scholarships land at $5,000, available to students across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico during the Fall 2026–Spring 2027 award term. The foundation runs 12+ named awards including undergraduate-eligible options like the Richard D. Stehly Memorial Scholarship and the Bernard Erlin Memorial award.

CMAA Regional Chapters: The Overlooked Gold Mine

Here's something most students miss: CMAA's regional chapters run their own scholarship programs that are separate from the national foundation. The applicant pool is smaller, the reviewers know the local industry, and the awards can be surprisingly generous.

CMAA Northern California: Up to $23,000 distributed across five scholarships per cycle
CMAA South Atlantic Chapter: Opens March 1, closes May 27 — for students in designated southeast states
CMAA San Diego: Requires full-time enrollment and a 3.0 GPA for the 2025–26 academic year
CMAA National Capital Chapter: Awards up to $2,000 in increments of $500
CMAA Wisconsin Chapter: Open to construction management and civil engineering students

The application effort for regional chapters is roughly the same as for national programs. But your competition pool drops from thousands of applicants to maybe dozens. If you're in a state with a CMAA chapter, applying there first is the highest-return move you can make.

State and Government Programs

State transportation agencies have started running their own scholarships to build a pipeline of project managers for public infrastructure work. Kentucky's Transportation Cabinet program is a good example of how generous these can get: freshmen and sophomores receive $7,200 per semester, while juniors and seniors receive $7,600 per semester. That's $14,400–$15,200 per academic year, significantly more than most industry association scholarships.

The tradeoff is typical for government programs — recipients often commit to working for the state agency for a period after graduation. That's worth thinking through carefully before you apply. For students who want to work on public-sector infrastructure anyway, it's essentially free money. For students with private-sector ambitions, it's a real constraint.

A few other angles worth exploring:

State chapters of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) offer $1,000 scholarships through their chapter networks, judged on financial need, academic performance, extracurricular activities, and work experience. ABC of Wisconsin, for example, selects ten apprentices annually.
University-specific department scholarships often have the most relaxed competition of all. The UH Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering lists 17+ named scholarships, with applications opening March 2, 2026 and closing May 1, 2026. A single application gets you considered for all of them at once.

Scholarships Targeting Specific Student Profiles

Some programs narrow the field sharply, which works in your favor if you qualify.

For first-generation students: The CMAA Erica Lynn First Generation Scholarship is one of the few in the construction space that explicitly targets students whose parents didn't attend college. Recipients can reapply for a second year, making it renewable in practice. For the 2026 cycle it's currently closed, but watch for the 2027 opening in late fall.

For women in construction: The Francis M. Keville Scholarship (CMAA) and the NAWIC chapter scholarships are the primary vehicles. NAWIC chapters like Kansas City and Silicon Valley run additional local programs with separate funding pools. The national NAWIC umbrella distributes a combined $250,000+ annually, but competition is concentrated among the most active regional chapters.

For students in concrete-focused tracks: ACI Foundation's 12+ scholarships include geographic-specific awards for students in Ontario, Colorado, Wyoming, and Quebec. If you're at a school in one of those regions, the geographic filter alone drops your competition significantly.

The underlying logic applies across all of these: niche awards have smaller applicant pools. A $1,500 scholarship with 30 applicants is a better use of three hours than a $5,000 scholarship with 3,000.

How to Build an Application That Wins

Industry scholarship reviewers are usually construction professionals, not admissions officers. They respond differently than academic committees do.

Here's what works:

Connect your goals to a real project or problem. "I want to manage hospital construction in underserved communities" beats "I want to contribute to the construction industry." The more specific, the more credible.
Lead with any field experience. Even a summer laboring for a local contractor signals industry seriousness. Reviewers notice students who have spent time on a job site.
Get a recommendation from someone in the industry. A letter from a project superintendent or civil engineer carries more weight than one from a professor alone — especially for CMAA and AGC programs where the reviewers know what these roles actually entail.
Apply for chapter scholarships before national ones. Build your materials at the regional level, where the feedback loop is faster and competition is lower, then refine for national programs.
Match your GPA story to the award. Some programs (PARSCO) accept a 2.5 minimum; others (NAWIC, Jack Boatman) require 3.0 and won't bend. Don't waste an application if you fall below a hard cutoff.

One common mistake: students submit generic essays that read like they were written for any scholarship. Reviewers can tell. Read the organization's mission before you write a single word — CMAA cares about professional CM practice, AGC cares about the contractor side of the industry, NAWIC cares about representation and career development. Mirror the language back to them.

Your Application Calendar for 2026–27 Funding

Timing matters as much as quality. Most construction management scholarships cluster around two windows.

Spring window (primary):

February–March: Begin gathering transcripts, recommendation letters, and essays
March 6: NAWIC Founders' Scholarship deadline (hard cutoff)
March 1–May 27: CMAA South Atlantic Chapter window
March 2–May 1: UH Department of Construction Management applications
June 30: CMAA Francis M. Keville Scholarship deadline

Fall window (secondary, for next aid year):

July 1: AGC Foundation portal opens for 2026–27
November 1: AGC 2026–27 scholarship cycle deadline (confirmed from prior cycles)
Late fall: Watch for CMAA Erica Lynn First Generation Scholarship reopening

The honest reality is that students who start building their scholarship list in the first semester of sophomore year have time to apply for 8–12 programs across two cycles before senior year. Students who start senior year scramble for 2–3 programs in a single sprint. The difference in total funding can easily be $15,000 or more.

One thing I'd tell any construction management student directly: don't write off scholarships because you think your GPA isn't good enough. Check the actual floor before you self-select out. The PARSCO scholarship takes 2.5, and a number of industry-based programs weight work experience and leadership just as heavily as academics.

Bottom Line

Apply to CMAA regional chapter scholarships first. Lower competition, local reviewers, and totals like the NorCal chapter's $23,000 pool make these the highest-probability wins.
Mark July 1, 2026 in your calendar for the AGC Foundation portal opening — this is the most financially significant undergraduate scholarship in the construction space and it requires ABET or ACCE program accreditation.
If you're a woman, first-generation student, or in a concrete-focused track, apply to the niche programs (Keville, Erica Lynn, NAWIC, ACI regional awards) before the general-pool ones. Your odds improve sharply when the eligibility filter narrows.
Start your materials in February, not April. Recommendation letters take longer than students expect, and late transcripts disqualify applications at NAWIC automatically.
The construction industry actively wants more skilled managers. These scholarships exist because associations are trying to attract students to the field. That's leverage — use it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be enrolled in an ACCE-accredited program to qualify for these scholarships?

For the AGC Education and Research Foundation scholarship, yes — your program must be accredited by ABET, ACCE, or select ATMAE programs. But most other scholarships on this list don't require specific accreditation. CMAA, NAWIC, and state programs typically just require enrollment in a construction management or related degree program at an accredited U.S. institution.

Can men apply for the NAWIC Founders' Scholarship?

Yes. Despite the name (National Association of Women in Construction), the NAWIC Founders' Scholarship Foundation is open to students of any gender enrolled in construction-related programs. The eligibility requirement is a 3.0 GPA and enrollment in a U.S. school — gender is not a filter for the national scholarship.

Are there construction management scholarships with no GPA minimum?

Some exist, particularly at the university department level where criteria are set locally. The PARSCO Construction Management Scholarship Endowment accepts applicants with a 2.5 minimum, which is lower than most industry programs. Work experience and extracurricular involvement can offset a borderline GPA in programs that don't have a hard cutoff.

Is the CMAA Foundation scholarship worth applying to if I'm not near a CMAA chapter?

Yes — the national CMAA Foundation programs (Foundation Scholarship, Keville, Erica Lynn, Fellows) are open to students at any accredited U.S. institution regardless of geography. Regional chapter scholarships like NorCal or South Atlantic often have geographic restrictions, but the national programs don't. Check each track separately since they have different eligibility criteria.

When is the best time to start looking for construction management scholarships?

The spring of your sophomore year gives you the most runway. The primary scholarship deadlines cluster in February through June, and gathering transcripts, writing essays, and securing recommendation letters realistically takes four to six weeks. Students who start in January for a March 6 NAWIC deadline are cutting it close; students who start in November are set up well.

What's the biggest mistake students make on construction management scholarship applications?

Submitting a generic essay that doesn't reflect the sponsoring organization's specific values. CMAA cares about professional construction management practice; AGC is oriented around the contractor and builder perspective; NAWIC emphasizes representation and career development. Reading the organization's mission statement before writing — and referencing it specifically — is what separates competitive applications from forgettable ones.