ARCS Facts

ARCS Foundation Seattle Facts 2025-2026

  • What does ARCS stand for?  Achievement Rewards for College Scientists
  • What does ARCS do? ARCS Foundation awards fellowships to US citizens pursuing PhD degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
  • What is an ARCS Fellowship? Each ARCS Foundation Fellowship funds one student over a three-year period at either UW or WSU. 
  • Must a fellow be a US citizen?  Yes. ARCS National Foundation was founded in 1958 to strengthen science in America.
  • How many ARCS Foundation chapters are there?  15
  • How many universities are supported across the ARCS Foundation chapters?  52
  • What year was ARCS Seattle chapter founded?  1978 (in support of UW)
  • When did ARCS Foundation start supporting WSU?  2000
  • How many ARCS Seattle members are there? 120 Member including (57 Active, 35 Silver Circle Members (25+ years) and 26 Associate)
  • How many members are on the board?  15
  • How many fellows has ARCS Seattle supported since its founding? Over 1,650
  • How much has ARCS Seattle given to fellowships since its founding?  $24 M
  • How much is a fellowship?  $22,500 ($7,500 paid out each year for 3 years)
  • How many years is a fellowship?  3 years
  • How much did we award this year in fellowships?  $952,500
  • How many fellowships does ARCS sponsor at the UW currently?  113 (In 2008, ARCS Foundation was honored as a Presidential Laureate with donations exceeding $10 million.)
  • How many fellowships does ARCS sponsor at WSU currently?  33 (In 2009, WSU awarded ARCS Foundation Silver Laureate Status recognizing gifts over $1 million dollars.)
  • How much is an endowment?  $200,000 (WSU) and $250,000 (UW) minimum contribution
  • How many endowments does the ARCS Foundation have? 63
  • How much has ARCS invested in endowments? Over $18.3 million
  • How many endowments are there for UW? 52 (totaling approx. $16.5 million)
  • How many endowments are for WSU? 11 (totaling $2.5 million)
  • How much are corporate sponsorship levels?  $25,000, $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500
  • What is a member’s financial annual contribution?  $1,250
  • Who is the Director of Operations? Jennifer Arnold (jha@seattlearcsfoundation.org)
  • Who is the Director of Development? (jenng@seattlearcsfoundation.org)