NM MESA students graduating from a NM MESA High School are able to earn the Loyalty Award (LA) for their first year of college. The amount available for a NM MESA student to earn is up to $1000. The Loyalty Award consists of two levels: MESA Success ($500) and Einstein Bonus (up to an additional $500). The student must first qualify for the MESA Success to also earn the Einstein Bonus.
Click HERE for a current version of the W9 Form
Click HERE for the Current 2025-2026 Loyalty Award Poster (NEW CHANGES!)
2025 Loyalty Award Application Documents: Allowed file types: doc, docx, pdf, odt, jpg, png
- An electronic copy of a personal testimonial about the impact that MESA has had for you.
- 2025 Fall Schedule of Classes-MUST INCLUDE: school name, your name, your student ID#, and your classes. This must be something generated from the school.
- A copy of the student’s completed federal W-9 form. This form will need to be completed with the student’s information and the student’s signature (line by line details below).
- Line 1 = fill out your complete legal name
- Line 2 = leave blank
- Line 3 = check the box for Individual
- Line 4 = leave blank
- Line 5 = fill out your complete address
- Line 6 = fill in your city, state & zip code
- Line 7 = leave blank
- Part 1 = complete social security number or employer identification number
- Part 2 = sign & date
** To complete the application and release your funds in September (ie. mail to the address you have in our MESA student database), you must submit all required documents.
Loyalty Award Requirements: NEW CHANGES FOR 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR
MESA Success: $500
In order to qualify for the MESA Success, students are required to meet ALL of the following criteria:
- Student graduating the current academic year from a NM MESA School.
- Member of NM MESA for 2 years including their senior year. Verification will occur after the senior year-1st Semester and will verify another participation year.
- A-0 form, completed and signed, submitted to your Advisor (or completed online) for every year of participation in NM MESA. Once submitted, the MESA coordinator will indicate you are an active member in the database.
- Demonstrated loyalty to NM MESA by having a minimum of 175 points total. This includes both MS and HS points. Refer to Table 1 on the right; points will stop calculating after the end of the 1st semester of senior year.
- Minimum ACT score of 18 or a minimum SAT score of 870 or a 2.8 unweighted (flat/cumulative) grade point average (GPA). Taken at the end of the 1st semester of the senior year as it appears on official transcript.
- Online application, W-9 upload, and testimonial about your experience in NM MESA submitted to the nmmesa.org website.
Einstein Bonus (up to $500 additional)
Einstein Bonus Eligibility criteria is in addition to the above MESA Success criteria. NM MESA students have the ability to earn additional money, up to $500. At this level, students can qualify for different amounts of money. In the Einstein Bonus, the student does NOT have to meet all the criteria; merit is based simply on what is achieved.
The following are the criteria for the Einstein Bonus:
- + up to $100 based on the LA points above 175, see bonus schedule to the right
- +$63 STEM extended program participation:
- Participation in Senior Incentive Field Trip (SIFT), MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC), or other MESA week+ program
- Completion of high school STEM capstone project, work-based learning, or internship program
- Can occur any year; verified by high school advisor & shared with RC
- +$63 ACT score ≥ 21 or SAT score ≥ 1000
- +$63 cumulative unweighted (flat) GPA of ≥ 3.5
- +$63 MESA Officer:
- Can occur any year; verified by high school advisor & shared with RC
- +$63 advanced math course incentive, ≥ C grade (not $63 per course)
- To include Algebra II, Statistics, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, AP Math, and/or college math course
- +$85 two or more additional STEM courses in addition to the NM State graduation requirement of 4 math and 3 science, ≥ C grade (not $85 per course)
Please note the following:
- Students can only qualify for this during their senior year if the MESA Success criteria are fully met.
- Unweighted (flat) GPA, test scores, and class rank are verified using the student’s official high school transcript, through the end of the first semester senior year.
- Students must be able to provide a social security number, green card number, or tax identification number. Please speak with your MESA advisor or regional coordinator if you cannot; you will not be disqualified.
- The Loyalty Award (LA) is taxable income and all recipients MUST submit a completed W-9 tax form to MESA before any disbursement of funds can be made.
- Students receiving $600 or more will be issued a 1099 tax form from MESA in January of the next year.
- Member and parent/guardian agree that final authority on LA is the sole responsibility of NM MESA, Inc.
- To receive the award, you must either attend a secondary educational institution (for degree or certification) or enlist in the military by the Fall Semester after graduation.
