Scholarship Impact

Congress established the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 1986 as a living memorial to Senator Barry Goldwater, with a single charge: identify the undergraduates most likely to become the next generation of research leaders in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, and support them early — while they are still deciding what kind of scientist they want to be.

Because Campus Representatives at each institution nominate their own strongest researchers, the award reaches students at large research universities, liberal arts colleges, and the service academies alike — across every part of the country and every field of the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. The figures below cover every competition year since the first awards were made in 1989. Use the filters to narrow them to a single year, state, or campus.

Those figures count scholarships, but the Foundation’s work is equally about the people who train these students. Through the CUR–Goldwater Scholars Faculty Mentor Award, made with the Council on Undergraduate Research, the Foundation recognizes faculty who have guided unusual numbers of Goldwater Scholars into research careers. Support from partners including the Department of Defense National Defense Education Program and UWorld has expanded both the number of scholarships awarded and the resources available to the students who receive them.

Between 2006 and 2018 the Foundation also recognized Honorable Mentions — students who would have been named Scholars had funding allowed. To look up individual recipients by name, year, institution, state, or field of study, see the Scholar Directory.