In 1997, AIA Wyoming established the Architectural Education Foundation of AIA Wyoming (AEF-AIAWy) to assist Wyoming students in obtaining an architectural education at National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited schools of architecture. The AEF-AIAWy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is administered by the Board of Directors, volunteer members of AIA Wyoming. Multiple scholarships are typically awarded each year to deserving Wyoming residents or Wyoming high school graduates.

The original funds for the scholarship were a gift of $3,000 from the Colorado Producers Council to AIA Wyoming in the late 1980s. During the 1990s, AIA Wyoming started distributing a portion of excess funds from the previous year’s budget to the AEF-AIAWy scholarship fund. Since then, the AEF-AIAWy has asked AIA Wyoming members for their firms to make a yearly donation pledge. AEF-AIAWy also solicits gifts from allied professionals, Wyoming philanthropic organizations and individuals and holds periodic fundraising events. The AEF-AIAWy has been able to grow the corpus of the scholarship funds to a level where we can sustain the scholarship awards from yearly earnings.

In 2017, AEF changed the scholarship eligibility requirements to assist more potential future architects. All applicants must still be a graduate of a Wyoming high school, have graduated (or anticipate graduating in the year of application) from the University of Wyoming or be a current Wyoming resident. Scholarship awards are now tiered to match a student’s progress toward an accredited degree in architecture. College freshmen must have an anticipated college path leading to a degree in architecture and are eligible for a $500 scholarship from AEF. Sophomores must be accepted by or enrolled in an accredited school of architecture pre-professional program and are eligible for a $750 scholarship. College juniors through Master of Architecture graduate students must be enrolled in an NAAB-accredited school of architecture in a professional program that leads to either a Bachelor or Master of Architecture degree. Juniors are eligible for $1000, seniors are eligible for $1250 and fifth-year and graduate students are eligible for $1500. The listed amounts are minimums, and the Scholarship Committee may award high amounts. There is an additional financial incentive for students to work for a Wyoming resident architect for at least eight weeks.

Occasionally, the AEF hosts fundraising events, which we did this year during the fall conference in Casper. The golf outing occurred at the front end of the conference and was enthusiastically attended by 20 duffers, raising $10,109.32! After expenses, we netted $6,759.26. Since we typically access our funds once a year for scholarships, we combined these dollars with some previous contributions and placed them in a one-year CD, which is guaranteed to generate 5.7% interest.

AEF of AIA Wyoming is pleased to announce a total awarded amount of $8,000 in scholarships this year! Congratulations to the 2023/2024 scholarship recipients:

Tessa Coughenour (5th year grad) from Casper, attending Montana State University, $6,000
Sydney Spomer (freshman) from Powell, attending CU Denver, $1,000
Henry Kobulnicky (freshman) from Laramie, attending Kansas State University, $1,000

For more information about the Architectural Education Foundation, view www.aia-wyoming.org/page/50 or the AEF Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AEF.AIA.WYO or contact any of the Board members.