PMEA is pleased to offer two scholarships to undergraduate or graduate students in PA.

• • The PMEA Council TTRR Continuing Education Award, in memory of BJ Stark & Barbara Dooley Fox, supporters of music education. This scholarship will be awarded to a full-time, undergraduate or graduate music education major in an accredited PA institution who has completed at least two semesters. (The amount and number of scholarships available may vary from year to year.)
  • Criteria for selection
    1. A minimum of one year as a PCMEA member in good standing with letter of affirmation from the PCMEA sponsor
    2. Submission of college transcript reflecting 3.5 GPA or higher
    3. Demonstration of performance skills (recorded video) or submission of composition(s)
    4. Presentation of a music education portfolio with sample lesson plans, philosophy, and development of creative instructional activities with a focus on the arts at the center of STEAM
    5. Participation in at least one PMEA-sponsored professional development program e.g., the Annual Conference, Summer Conference, Webinar, or Regional Workshop.
    6. Completion of essay that demonstrates leadership and well-defined goals and aspirations towards a career in music education
    7. Blind judging by PMEA members with at least one member from the PMEA Council of Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Retention, PMEA EXCOM, and/or PMEA staff
    8. Letter of recommendation from at least one music education professor

  • The PMEA Music-for-Lifelong-Learning Award, in memory of Donald Edward Stark & Paul Francis Fox, engineers and supporters of music education. This scholarship will be awarded to a full-time, undergraduate or graduate science-technology-engineering-mathematics major in an accredited PA institution who has completed at least two semesters. (The amount and number of scholarships available may vary from year to year.)
    • The candidate for this award must also be enrolled for at least one semester in a music performance course (i.e. band, chamber music, chorus, jazz or orchestra, earning 
  • Criteria for selection
    1. 3.5 GPA or higher on college transcripts
    2. Demonstration of performance skills (recorded video of 2-5 minutes)
    3. Presentation of a music portfolio with high school and college history of participation in music ensembles and pursuits in creative self-expression, concert programs, and/or evidence of the development of creative activities or projects with a focus on the arts at the center of STEAM
    4. Completion of essay that reflects musical leadership, community service, and/or the candidate’s rationale and aspirations for the continuation of “music study as a life-skill”
    5. Response to the question, “How does the study of music enhance your knowledge, skills and depth of understanding for a career in science-technology-engineering-mathematics?”
    6. Blind judging by PMEA members with at least one member from the PMEA Council of Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Retention, PMEA EXCOM, or PMEA staff

Both scholarships are nonrenewable (a different candidate will be selected each year) and will be paid directly to the awardee as reimbursement for college tuition, dorm/apartment rent, meals on campus, textbook purchases, and/or the purchase of a new instrument (must provide receipts)