Transportation & Infrastructure Scholarships for Women — WTS Chapters & Foundation (2026)
January
1) WTS Indianapolis Helene M. Overly Memorial Graduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a strong graduate-level option for women who are already serious about transportation and want a cleaner, chapter-based application path instead of fighting through giant national pools. It is especially attractive for students in planning, engineering, finance, and logistics because the scholarship is explicitly designed for transportation-related graduate study and comes through a chapter that has a straightforward scholarship form page.
Amount: $3,500
Deadline: January 1, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/indianapolis/scholarships/scholarship-forms
2) WTS Indianapolis Sharon D. Banks Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This one works well for undergraduate women who want transportation-specific money without having to twist their story into a generic engineering essay. The scholarship is clearly built for women pursuing transportation or related fields, so it fits applicants interested in transit, highway work, freight, mobility, public works, or infrastructure consulting.
Amount: $2,500
Deadline: January 1, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/indianapolis/scholarships/scholarship-forms
3) WTS Indianapolis Community College / Technical / Trade School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the better transportation scholarships for women who are not following the classic four-year-university route. It is built for associate and technical pathways, which makes it a smart fit for students moving into construction technology, CAD, surveying, transportation operations, or other hands-on infrastructure careers where small scholarships can cover tools, books, fees, and commuting costs.
Amount: $2,500
Deadline: January 1, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/indianapolis/scholarships/scholarship-forms
February
4) WTS Maine Chapter High School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: High-school transportation scholarships for girls are rarer than undergraduate awards, which is exactly why this one is worth tracking. The Maine chapter explicitly ties the award to STEM-minded young women considering transportation careers, and the chapter lists up to three awards, which gives applicants better odds than a single-winner program.
Amount: $1,000 to $2,000
Deadline: February 15, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/maine/scholarships
March
5) WTS Utah Undergraduate / Graduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a strong western-region option because the Utah chapter posted a real 2026 deadline and a clear award structure instead of vague “annual” language. It is also appealing because the chapter is open to students pursuing transportation, engineering, planning, and related fields, which gives applicants more room to tell an infrastructure story even if their major title is not literally “transportation.”
Amount: $3,000 each (four awards listed)
Deadline: March 20, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/utah/scholarships
6) WTS Utah High School Student Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This one is especially useful for young women who already know they want to build, plan, or improve how people and goods move through cities and regions. Because the Utah chapter carved out dedicated high-school awards instead of forcing teenagers to compete against college students, it gives future civil engineers, planners, and transportation analysts a cleaner on-ramp into the field.
Amount: $1,000 each (two awards listed)
Deadline: March 20, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/utah/scholarships
April
7) WTS South Carolina Transportation YOU High School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the better current-cycle options for high school students because the South Carolina chapter posted a live April 2026 deadline and clearly includes a dedicated Transportation YOU category. It is also a smart pick for girls who want transportation-specific recognition early, especially if they plan to move into civil engineering, logistics, public works, aviation, or transit-related majors.
Amount: Varies; the chapter says $12,000 total will be divided among 2026 recipients
Deadline: April 25, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/south-carolina/scholarships
8) WTS South Carolina Helene M. Overly Memorial Graduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Graduate women in transportation often find that funding gets more specialized and less visible. This South Carolina category is worth tracking because it gives graduate students a clearly named WTS path inside a live 2026 chapter cycle, and local winners are also forwarded to the WTS Foundation selection committee, which adds prestige and upside beyond the local award itself.
Amount: Varies; the chapter says $12,000 total will be divided among 2026 recipients
Deadline: April 25, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/south-carolina/scholarships
September
9) WTS NJ Graduate Student Scholarship (Helene M. Overly Memorial)
Why It Slaps: New Jersey’s chapter has one of the cleanest 2026 scholarship setups I found: named categories, clear dollar amounts, and a hard deadline already posted. This graduate award is especially compelling for women in transportation planning, finance, logistics, and engineering who want region-specific support in a state with dense rail, highway, freight, and port activity.
Amount: $5,000
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/6_2026_WTS%20NJ%20Graduate%20Scholarship%20Application%20%28Helene%20Overly%20Memorial%29.pdf
10) WTS NJ Leadership Graduate Student Scholarship (Bridgette Beato Leadership Legacy)
Why It Slaps: This one is stronger than a plain graduate award because it rewards leadership and transportation innovation, not just enrollment. That matters for applicants who have already done project work, community engagement, advocacy, or research and want a scholarship that actually values the way they lead, not only their GPA.
Amount: $4,000
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/5_2026_WTS%20NJ%20Leadership%20Scholarship%20for%20Graduates%20Application%20%28Bridgette%20Beato%20Leadership%20Legacy%29.pdf
11) WTS NJ Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the better undergrad transportation awards on the board because the dollar amount is meaningful enough to matter and the eligibility language is broad enough to fit many real students. New Jersey includes transportation, engineering, science, planning, policy, administration, operations, trade, business management, finance, and logistics, so applicants do not have to force a too-narrow fit.
Amount: $4,000
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/4_2026_WTS%20NJ%20Undergraduate%20Scholarship%20Application%20%28Sharon%20Banks%20Memorial%29.pdf
12) WTS NJ Leadership Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: A lot of scholarship pages say they value leadership, but this one is explicitly built around it. That makes it a smart target for undergraduate women who have led in student government, technical clubs, volunteer projects, transportation research, or community mobility work and want that leadership to count as part of their scholarship story.
Amount: $4,000
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/3_2026_WTS%20NJ%20Leadership%20Scholarship%20for%20Undergraduates%20Application%20%28Molitoris%20Leadership%29.pdf
13) WTS NJ Jr. College / Technical / Trade School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is exactly the kind of scholarship more women in infrastructure should know about. It validates community-college, technical, and trade pathways into transportation careers and treats those routes as legitimate talent pipelines instead of second-tier options, which is critical in a sector that badly needs more women in operations, field delivery, and applied technical roles.
Amount: $2,500
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/2_2026_WTS%20NJ%20Junior%20College%20Application.pdf
14) WTS NJ Transportation YOU High School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: High school seniors who already lean toward civil engineering, planning, architecture, logistics, or public policy should not wait until college to enter the transportation funding pipeline. This award gives New Jersey students a verified early-entry option and sits inside a chapter structure that can expose them to a real professional network, not just a one-time check.
Amount: $2,500
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/1_2026_WTS%20NJ%20Transportation%20YOU%20High_School%20ScholarshipApplication.pdf
15) Fred Berger Endowed Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a good reminder that not every worthwhile transportation scholarship has to be one of the national-name staples. The Fred Berger award gives New Jersey applicants another local slot to chase inside the same scholarship cycle, which makes it valuable for students who want one more credible, transportation-specific application without leaving the chapter ecosystem.
Amount: $2,000
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/7_2026_Fred%20Berger%20Endowed%20Scholarship%20Application.pdf
November
16) WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Helene M. Overly / Esther Kmetty Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Phoenix is one of the most infrastructure-active metros in the country, so chapter awards there carry more career upside than the dollar amount alone suggests. This graduate scholarship is especially attractive for women who want transportation funding plus proximity to a region where transit, airport, roadway, and growth-management work keeps generating professional opportunity.
Amount: $6,000
Deadline: November 28, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/metro-phoenix/scholarships
17) WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Sharon D. Banks Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the stronger chapter undergraduate awards on the list because the amount is solid and the chapter page clearly identifies it for women in transportation-related study. For applicants in Arizona who want a verified, local scholarship tied to a fast-moving market, it is a very practical target.
Amount: $4,000
Deadline: November 28, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/metro-phoenix/scholarships
18) WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Molitoris Leadership Fund for Undergraduates
Why It Slaps: Leadership-focused awards can be gold for applicants whose resumes show initiative, not just class performance. This scholarship gives undergraduate women in transportation a way to compete on impact, leadership, and industry direction, which is ideal for students already doing more than just collecting grades.
Amount: $4,000
Deadline: November 28, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/metro-phoenix/scholarships
19) WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Bridgette Beato Leadership Legacy Scholarship for Graduates
Why It Slaps: Graduate women who are interested in transportation innovation should pay attention here because the scholarship language directly rewards that interest. It is a better-than-average fit for applicants working on sustainability, systems thinking, mobility planning, or research-driven transportation problems who want a scholarship that recognizes future-facing leadership.
Amount: $3,000
Deadline: November 28, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/metro-phoenix/scholarships
20) WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Junior College / Technical / Trade School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the clearest signs that transportation scholarships are not just for future master’s students and policy analysts. Women heading into technical, community-college, and trade pathways can use this award to support the exact kind of applied workforce preparation the infrastructure sector depends on but often underfunds.
Amount: $3,000
Deadline: November 28, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/metro-phoenix/scholarships
21) WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Transportation YOU High School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a strong early-stage award for high school seniors who already know they are drawn to mobility, engineering, transit, logistics, or infrastructure careers. The Phoenix chapter’s posted amount is meaningful for a high-school award, and the scholarship also plugs students into a chapter with real transportation industry visibility.
Amount: Up to $2,500
Deadline: November 28, 2026
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/metro-phoenix/scholarships
22) WTS Central Virginia Sharon D. Banks Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a smaller award, but that is not a weakness if you are building a stackable scholarship strategy. Local chapter scholarships like this can be easier to miss and therefore less crowded, and Central Virginia’s transportation setting makes it especially relevant for women interested in DOT work, roadway planning, engineering consulting, and public-sector infrastructure delivery.
Amount: $1,000
Deadline: 2025–26 chapter cycle closed; the page lists November 21, 2025 for the posted cycle
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/central-virginia/scholarship
23) WTS Central Virginia Helene M. Overly Memorial Graduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Graduate transportation students often need smaller local awards to patch real funding gaps between tuition, software, conference travel, and living costs. This scholarship is useful because it is clearly targeted, chapter-run, and grounded in transportation-related graduate study rather than a vague women-in-STEM umbrella.
Amount: $1,500
Deadline: 2025–26 chapter cycle closed; the page lists November 21, 2025 for the posted cycle
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/central-virginia/scholarship
24) WTS Central Virginia Molitoris Leadership Scholarship for Undergraduates
Why It Slaps: This is a good niche award for women who want leadership to be part of the evaluation, not an afterthought. If your transportation story includes organizing, advocacy, club leadership, project initiative, or visible responsibility in work or school, this scholarship lets you present that as part of your value in the field.
Amount: $1,000
Deadline: 2025–26 chapter cycle closed; the page lists November 21, 2025 for the posted cycle
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/central-virginia/scholarship
25) WTS Central Virginia Bridgette Beato Leadership Legacy Scholarship for Graduates
Why It Slaps: This is a thoughtful graduate option for applicants whose work sits at the intersection of transportation and bigger quality-of-life questions like sustainability, land use, security, and community outcomes. That framing makes it more intellectually interesting than a plain tuition award and a better fit for students with policy, planning, or interdisciplinary infrastructure goals.
Amount: $1,500
Deadline: 2025–26 chapter cycle closed; the page lists November 21, 2025 for the posted cycle
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/central-virginia/scholarship
26) Patsy G. Napier Future Transportation Leader Scholarship
Why It Slaps: Even though the dollar amount is modest, the design of this award is excellent for high school senior women because it is explicitly built as a future-leader scholarship in transportation. Small, local, mission-tight scholarships like this can be easier to win and can help a student establish a transportation identity early, which later strengthens applications for bigger WTS and industry awards.
Amount: $500
Deadline: 2025–26 cycle deadline was November 21, 2025
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/central-virginia/scholarship
December
27) Rhode Island Transportation YOU High School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is one of the most practical high-school options on the page because the Rhode Island chapter makes the local-plus-national pipeline very clear. Applicants compete for a local $1,000 award, and the recipient’s application is also forwarded for WTS Foundation consideration, which gives a teenager a credible shot at more money without creating a second totally separate search.
Amount: $1,000 local, plus forwarding for WTS Foundation Transportation YOU consideration at $2,500
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/rhode-island/scholarships
28) Rhode Island Junior College / Trade School Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This is a smart pick for women taking a community-college or trade-school path into transportation because it respects those credentials as real infrastructure workforce training. It is also appealing because Rhode Island explicitly forwards one application for WTS Foundation consideration, giving applicants extra upside beyond the local chapter round.
Amount: $1,000 local, plus forwarding for WTS Foundation Junior College / Trade School consideration at $2,500
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/rhode-island/scholarships
29) Rhode Island Sharon D. Banks Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship
Why It Slaps: This award is especially solid for undergraduate women because Rhode Island pairs a real local award with possible advancement into the national WTS Foundation round. That makes the application more efficient: one strong transportation-focused submission can create both local and national upside, which is exactly what busy students need.
Amount: $2,000 local, plus forwarding for WTS Foundation Sharon D. Banks consideration at $5,000
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/rhode-island/scholarships
30) Rhode Island Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship for Graduates
Why It Slaps: Graduate students should like this one because it combines a local chapter award with possible national visibility, which is rare for smaller regional scholarships. It is a strong fit for women in transportation engineering, planning, finance, or logistics who want a graduate-level award that still feels accessible and not overly bureaucratic.
Amount: $2,000 local, plus forwarding for WTS Foundation Helene M. Overly consideration at $10,000
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Apply/info: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/rhode-island/scholarships
FAQ
Are these scholarships only for civil engineering majors?
No. Across the chapter pages, transportation-related study is defined broadly and commonly includes engineering, planning, policy, finance, logistics, business management, operations, and other related fields. That breadth is one reason transportation scholarships are so useful for women whose majors do not carry the exact word “transportation.”
Do I need to be a WTS member to apply?
Usually not, though it depends on the chapter. Rhode Island and Connecticut explicitly say membership is not required, while some chapters strongly encourage student membership because it is free or comes with added networking value.
Can high school seniors apply?
Yes. Transportation YOU categories, dedicated chapter high-school scholarships, and future-leader awards make this page unusually strong for high-school women compared with many scholarship niches that skew only toward current college students.
Can I apply to more than one scholarship in the same chapter?
Often yes, but read the chapter rules carefully. New Jersey says students may submit for multiple categories in the same calendar year but cannot receive more than one award in that year, and Rhode Island also says applicants can apply to more than one scholarship.
What counts as a transportation or infrastructure career for these scholarships?
Think beyond just “traffic engineer.” These pages commonly point to transportation engineering, planning, finance, logistics, transit, public works, policy, construction-related work, and other roles that shape how people, freight, airports, highways, rail, and public systems function.
