Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Baldrige Award Changes and Reminders

About the Award | How to Apply | Award Cycle Overview | Is Your Organization Eligible | Award Process Fees | The Feedback Report

2022 Changes and Reminders

Baldrige Award Process Changes

ELIGIBILITY SUBMISSION
All applicants must submit their eligibility certification package electronically. Instructions can be found in the Eligibility Certification Form.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION: PDF Format Only
All applicants must submit their award application package electronically. Instructions can be found in the Award Application Form.

ELIGIBILITY CONDITION #4
The window for submitting eligibility under this condition has been extended by one year. Organizations who have received the top award from an award program that is a member of the Alliance for Performance Excellence between 2016 and 2021 may apply at the national level.

New for 2022: Applicant Interviews during Virtual Evaluation

Every applicant will engage with their assigned Baldrige examiner team for two to three days in late July or early August to conduct virtual interviews. The purpose of the interviews is to help the team better understand the application. There will be one call for each process category and one follow-up call, if necessary. The applicant may invite additional members from their organization to participate in these calls.

Reminder: Team-Leader-to-Applicant Call about Business Model Call Early in the Award Process

The highest-ranking officer or designated representative from each 2022 award applicant organization will have the opportunity to describe their organization's business model and other unique key factors during a half-hour phone call with the team leader of the examiner team assigned to evaluate their organization in early June during the Independent Analysis phase of the award process. During this call, the team leader can ask for clarification about information in the Organizational Profile, but the applicant and team leader will avoid describing or asking for more information about specific processes and results (which should be addressed in the 50-page application). 

Reminder: Category 7 Results Call with Applicant Early in Award Process

Each applicant will have the opportunity to clarify any category 7 results that the team does not fully understand, as well as highlight select key results of importance. This half-hour results call will occur in early June after the business model call. 

Reminder: Eligibility Options

  1. Organizations that can show a high level of maturity and superior performance metrics now have an additional means to gain eligibility for the Baldrige Award: they can submit additional materials (a completed Organizational Profile and two results measures for each of the five Criteria results items) with their eligibility certification package so that the Baldrige Program can determine their eligibility in early 2022. (Note: Those organizations that applied via this method in 2018 through 2021 may apply again for  the following four years using this eligibility option IF they received a combined total of 6 for process and results band scores from the Consensus Review (or Virtual Evaluation, for years 2022 and beyond). These band scores may be found in the key themes section of the organization's feedback report.)
  2. Prior Baldrige Award recipients are automatically eligible to reapply for the award five years after the year of their award (in the sixth year), even if new or revised eligibility requirements (e.g., those for subunits) would otherwise screen them out.  For example, if your organization was an Award recipient in 2016, you are eligible to apply again in 2022.
  3. Organizational subunits (such as an individual business unit within a larger manufacturing company) are no longer restricted from award eligibility based on their workforce size relative to their parent organizations or the percentage of external customers served; however, such subunits must still be able to respond to all seven categories of the Criteria.

For more information about the eligibility options, read the Frequently Asked Questions and Is Your Organization Eligible?

Reminder: Include Only Terms and Abbreviations in the Glossary

In the glossary, include only terms and abbreviations used in the application, with very brief definitions (see 2022 Application Content and Format Details). Do not include descriptions of processes, tools, methods, or techniques in the glossary, or your application will be returned to you to remove extra glossary content.

Award Process Helpline
1-877-237-9064, option 3

Resources

Purchase Baldrige Excellence Framework Business/Nonprofit, Education, Health Care 
Baldrige Process Calendar
Application Content and Format
Baldrige Process Integrity

Related Links

Baldrige Award Recipient Listing
Baldrige Impacts
Self-Assessing Your Organization
Baldrige Improvement Tools
Testimonials
Baldrige FAQs

Contacts

  • Award Process Hotline
    (877) 237-9064 ext. 3
  • Baldrige Customer Service
    (301) 975-2036
    NIST/BPEP
    100 Bureau Drive, M/S 1020
    Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1020
Created October 24, 2012, Updated December 1, 2021