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 2023-2024 Loyalty Award Poster
*All students eligible for a loyalty award are REQUIRED to attend a Loyalty Award Senior Meeting (15 minutes) in Spring of their Senior Year.
Documents Students need for the Loyalty Award: 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.
- 2024 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). If you don’t have a printer, try this fillable w9 pdf with electronic signature option; be sure to click the TOOLS button to access the signature & date option.
- 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.
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 his/her senior year (senior year only 1st Semester and one other year).
- A-1 form, completed and signed, submitted to your Advisor every year participated in NM MESA. (Advisor will submit a copy to your regional MESA office, and 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 (Both MS and HS, 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 weighted G.P.A (End of 1st semester of senior year as appears on official transcript).
- Online application, W-9 upload, and testimonial about your experience in NM MESA submitted to the nmmesa.org website. Completed W-9 tax form can be sent to your Regional Coordinator.
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 class rank top 10%
- +$63 ACT score ≥ 21 or SAT score ≥ 1000
- +$63 cumulative weighted GPA of ≥ 3.8
- +$63 MESA Officer (any year – not $63 per year; verified by advisor & entered into the MESA database)
- +$63 In addition to state graduation requirement of 4 math and 3 science, at least one additional credit of STEM course(s), ≥ C grade (not $63 per course)
- +$85 two or more AP/ Dual credit course(s), which includes state requirements, ≥ 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.
- Weighted 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.
- See the approved Math, Science, English and other STEM-related courses.
- View the list of acceptable AP courses.
- 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.
