2025 REMSA Railway Engineering Education Scholarship

REMSA Railway Engineering Education Scholarship Overview

The Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) is pleased to announce the availability of rail industry focused scholarship for tuition assistance.  This year REMSA is offering one (1) Railway Engineering Education Scholarship up to $10,000*.  The purpose of this scholarship is to positively impact the future of the rail construction and maintenance industry. REMSA is seeking scholarship applications from undergraduates (junior or senior), graduate students, trade school or other continuing education programs, who are pursuing additional education that would allow them to work successfully and grow within the rail construction and maintenance industry.  
*Final scholarship dollar amount will be determined based on the program cost in which the recipient is enrolled.

InnoTrans Career Award

In addition to the Railway Engineering Education Scholarship, REMSA is pleased to announce that we are partnering with InnoTrans and will be sending a student to attend InnoTrans 2026, which will take place in Berlin, Germany September 22-25, 2026. The student will participate in the InnoTrans Career Award, designed to spark the interest of the future generation in rail and promote career opportunities within the rail industry. InnoTrans will introduce students to leading transportation companies, learn about current job openings and internships, and participate in various events throughout the show.

Applicants may elect to have their application reviewed for both awards; however, receiving the REMSA Railway Engineering Education Scholarship does not guarantee selection for the InnoTrans Career Award and vice versa. Read more about the InnoTrans Career Award. 

ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for consideration, an applicant must: 

• Be enrolled in and in attendance at the time at an accredited college or university pursuing a degree in a STEM discipline (junior or senior undergraduates, or any graduate students), or a trade school or other continuing education program that will enhance a current or future career in the railway engineering-maintenance industry;
• provide proof of enrollment in a college or university or a vocational or technical institution continuing education program at the time the funds are disbursed;
• Have the intent to pursue or further develop a career in the railway engineering-maintenance industry. 

THE APPLICATION PROCESS 
To apply for this scholarship, all materials listed below must be submitted to the REMSA Scholarship Committee:

1.  A completed Application for the Railway Engineering Scholarship Program/InnoTrans Career Award submitted online
AND
The following submitted as a single PDF (except for the letters of recommendation - to be emailed directly):

2.  A personal narrative, not to exceed 1,500 words.
*Applicants should submit essays written solely by the participant, and submission of essays that have been generated, in whole or in part by artificial intelligence (AI) or any content creation system will be disqualified. 

3. An official transcript from all schools attended, each college attended, indicating all college-level work completed. *Official transcripts will be accepted via email only if they come directly from the school/university. 

3. A professional resume detailing work history and experience.

4.  Two letters of recommendation from industry mentors.  Emails must come directly from the reference.

Please submit your single PDF application packet and have the letters of recommendation sent to Celeste Gelber - gelber@remsa.org

Evaluation and Notification:
An Awards Committee appointed by the REMSA Board of Directors will base its evaluation for awards on the materials submitted. All applicants will be informed of awards in December.

For scholarship questions, please contact Celeste Gelber gelber@remsa.org

Previous winners of REMSA scholarships are eligible to be considered for renewal of their scholarship assistance one time. The scholarship can be awarded to the same recipient no more than twice.