Military veterans and their families are increasingly concerned about the rising costs of college tuition and related expenses. The uncertainty surrounding the end of this trend has led many veteran students and their families to explore alternative means of financing their college aspirations.
While college student loans are an option, their relatively high costs have deterred some veterans from pursuing higher education, fearing the burden of substantial student debts. However, not having a college degree can have negative consequences in today's competitive job market, particularly for entry-level positions that often require a certain level of higher education.
Recognizing the importance of higher education for veterans, various US colleges and institutions have witnessed a steady rise in veteran enrollment. In response, these institutions have developed specialized programs and services to support the success of veteran students. One significant avenue for veterans to pursue their college dreams is through scholarships.
These scholarships serve as a commendation for veterans' sacrifices in the armed forces and are crucial in providing financial assistance for their education. In particular, the US military offers study grants and scholarships as part of award-for-service programs, requiring individuals to be enlisted in any of the branches of the US army.
For veterans and their families seeking opportunities to earn a college degree without the financial strain of high-interest loans, exploring these scholarships is a promising avenue. The following is a list of scholarships tailored to support the educational pursuits of military veterans.
Create your profile anytime at www.scholistapp.com to get matched with scholarships!
TEXAS ARMED SERVICES SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
This scholarship is offered by the Texas Higher Education Board to aid students in obtaining enough funds for their educational plans. Because the board understands the additional support a student needs, they have created different programs for enrollees to help them secure the funding they need.
Student loans are introduced to all students in Texas for them not to have second thoughts about enrolling in college just because of their financial incapacity.
Of the many programs, the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program is the biggest grant for veterans and their families. This is designed to help encourage more Texas students to become members of the different branches of the armed forces.
Those who are granted the scholarship have to commit to enroll in programs related to military service and maintain high scholastic standing. A scholar is awarded $7,000 in scholarship funding for their education.
Deadline: January 15, 2024.
Eligibility:
1. Be on track to graduate or have graduated high school with the Distinguished Achievement Program (DAP), the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation High School program, or the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
2. Have a high school grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale
3. Have achieved a college readiness score on the SAT (1070) or ACT (23)
4. Be ranked in the top one-third of the prospective high school graduating class
AFAS GENERAL HENRY H. ARNOLD EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM
This grant was created by the Air Force Aid Society and was established in 1942. The Air Force Aid Society is the US Air Force’s official charity. From its inception, the AFAS has extensively worked to meet every need of every Airman and their families.
Charitable contributions have aided AFAS to generate money to give to US Airmen needing educational support, financial assistance, or community programs.
The General Henry H. Arnold Education Grant is AFAS’s pillar in their education support program. Every year, scholarships are awarded to students based on their education costs and family income.
The grant is designed to guarantee that the recipient gets the right amount of aid while giving scholarships to as many qualified students as possible. If granted, students can avail a range of $500 - $4,000 scholarship funding.
Open: January 2024
Eligibility:
1. Must be an undergraduate student
2. Must attend a university, a four-year college, a two-year college, or a vocational-tech school
3. Must study full-time
4. Must be in or a veteran of the U.S. Air Force
5. Must be a dependent of the service(s) specified above
This scholarship started in 1962 and is one of today’s largest and oldest need-based scholarship grants to children of military personnel. For over five long decades, the foundation has funded the children of Navy Corpsmen and Marines.
The Marine Corps Scholarship is provided to extraordinary students coming from families of a Navy Corpsman or a Marine. The scholar has to show impeccable academic performance and must be proven to be an excellent leader in their community.
Students who are eligible for this grant can receive up to $10,000 in scholarship funds from the college or university of their choice. The Scholarship application opens on January 1 and closes March 1 of each year.
Eligibility:
1. GPA of at least 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale)
2. Attending or planning to attend a college or career training school listed on the National Center for Education Statistic’s College Navigator website in the upcoming academic year
3. There is a family income limit specified annually.
4. Applicants Must Be The Child Of One Of The Following:
- Active duty, reserve, or veteran U.S. Marine
- A Marine killed while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps
- Active duty, reserve, or veteran U.S. Navy Corpsman who is/was
attached to a U.S. Marine unit
- A Navy Corpsman attached to a Marine unit that was killed while
serving in the U.S. Navy
DAUGHTERS OF THE CINCINNATI SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship was founded in 1894 and was started by the descendants of soldiers from the Revolutionary War. It aims to ensure that the values of the Revolutionary War are preserved and to continue to push for the study of this critical time in US History.
Today, this scholarship is opened up to daughters of members of the armed services. This grant has been helping daughters of veterans achieve college education for more than a century.
The Daughters of Cincinnati awards massive support and scholarships to daughters of career commissioned officers in the US who meet specific criteria focusing on academic performance and financial capacity. If selected, student scholars receive up to $20,000 in scholarship money given to them over the whole four-year duration of their college degree program.
Amount: $16,000–$20,000
Deadline: February 15
Eligibility:
1. Must currently be in high school
2. Type of institution award is open to: four-year college
3. Must be daughters of career commissioned officers in the United States military
AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY - Spirit of Youth Scholarship
The American Legion Auxiliary, established in 1919, is now the world’s biggest women’s patriotic service organization. This organization aims to honor the many sacrifices made by military service members, veterans, and their families.
At present, they mentor young people, advocate for veterans, and promote patriotism, good citizenship, and peace and security.
The organization’s Spirit of Youth Scholarship is their biggest scholarship for veterans and their family members. The scholarship is awarded to veteran students who have shown high academic performance, civic engagements, and community leadership. The chosen scholar will receive $5,000 in scholarship grants. Applications are DUE ON OR BEFORE MARCH 1, 2024, 11:59 PM Eastern.
This scholarship is an umbrella that supports three different scholarship grants for participants in American Legion Auxiliary programs: the Honorary National Junior Division Vice Presidents, the American Legion Auxiliary Junior members, and the American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation program.
Eligibility:
1. Candidates for this award shall be/shall have been Junior members of the American Legion Auxiliary, have held membership in the American Legion Auxiliary for the past three consecutive years, and must be a paid member for the current membership year. Applicant must continue their membership in the American Legion Auxiliary during the scholarship period.
2. Applicants must be in their senior year of high school.
3. This is a scholarship to attend an accredited institution of higher education. 4. Applicants must be of good character and have grades that meet entrance requirements at the institution of their choice. Applicants must have at least a 3.0 GPA using a 4.0 scale.
This nonprofit organization is dedicated to raising money so they can help pay for the tuition of Navy personnel and their families. They generate money from donors, and the amount is solely dedicated to financially assisting Surface Navy families.
Through the scholarship, the organization hopes that the families of Navy personnel will feel appreciated and understand how valued they are for the services they give to the nation.
The scholarship is awarded to any student who is a family member of somebody that took part in the Naval Surface Forces.
Anybody can avail of the scholarship provided that they are a direct relative of someone who was not dishonorably discharged or one who is still in active duty within the Naval forces. Selected students are granted $3,000 that they can use in any university or college they want.
These scholarships are typically awarded based on an applicant’s character, academic performance, financial needs, and extracurricular activities. For the administered and endowed scholarships, additional criteria should be met considering not all applicants are eligible for such grants.
Deadline: MARCH 1ST, 11:59 PM EST
Eligibility:
1. Applicants must be high school seniors or college students planning to attend or currently attending an accredited, two- or four-year college or university full-time pursuing a first associates, BA or BS degree or Industry Certification in the United States.
2. Applicants must also be dependents of service members who are on active duty or retired and have served a minimum of six years in a unit under the administrative control of Commander, Naval Surface Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet or U.S. Pacific Fleet.
3. Applicants must be the dependent child or spouse of a US Navy sailor (active, retired, honorably discharged) now referred to as sponsor.
Note: The award is based on academics, extracurricular activities, character, all-around ability and financial need.
HORIZONS - MICHIGAN SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship is an initiative of the Women in Defense-Michigan Chapter. Established in 2007, this nonprofit organization aims at providing professional development and networking opportunities for the people across Michigan working in national defense and security.
WID-MI established a program in 2009 called HORIZONS, a scholarship offered to students who wish to work in the defense department. This program seeks to encourage students to obtain a college degree related to defense work. Qualified students are awarded $3,500 in scholarship funding.
Deadline: March 31, 2024
Eligibility:
1. Be a female
2. Be a citizen of the United States
3. Be a resident of Michigan
4. Be a senior high school (grade 12) currently enrolled full time
5. Demonstrate achievements in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)
6. Demonstrate interest in pursuing a career related to national security or defense
7. Be active in school and/or the local community
8. Be planning to attend an accredited Michigan university or college, either full-time or part-time
9. Have a minimum grade point average of 3.0
As part of Google’s commitment to military veterans, the company partners with SVA each year to fund scholarships. The scholarship provides assistance to student veterans who are pursuing university degrees in the field of computer science in the U.S. Selected students will receive $10,000 for the upcoming school year.
Amount: $10,000
Deadline: May 15th 2024
Eligibility
Student veterans must meet the following criteria to apply for the Google SVA Scholarship:
1. Currently enrolled as an undergraduate at a university for the 2023-2024 academic year or intend to be enrolled in or accepted as a full-time student at a university in the United States
2. Maintaining a strong academic performance.
3. Pursuing a Computer Science or Computer Engineering degree, or a degree in a closely related technical field*.
4. Must be a current student veteran (includes members of the National Guard or Reserve) as proven by a DD-214 and transcript, or a student on Active Duty as proven by submission of Active Duty orders and a Memorandum of Understanding from your commanding officer indicating that you are currently in good standing with your unit and transcript.
5. Has received an honorable discharge or is in good standing with his/her branch of service.
ASHTON JOHNSON MEMORIAL CLOUDDANCER SCHOLARSHIP
The Ashton Johnson Memorial Scholarship is intended to help veterans interested in pursuing careers in aviation. We’re looking for veterans with honorary military performance along with passion, drive and tenacity either starting off or in the process of private pilot training.
Amount: $10,000
Deadline: May 18th 2024
Eligibility
1. Must be a member of the US Military or retired from service with an honorable discharge.
2. Applicants must have an FAA Airman Medical valid for 1st or 2nd Class privileges at time of application and selection.
We ask applicants to fill out the prerequisite scholarship questions and submit a 1 —2 page essay detailing your background both in and out of the military, your goals in an aviation career, and what this scholarship would mean to you.
AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIPS
The APA Foundation scholarships aim to make the planning profession more accessible to individuals with limited means and to attract the best, brightest, and most talented individuals to the planning profession.
Award: $5,000
Deadline: June 1, 2024
Women, people of color and indigenous descent, veterans, disabled persons, and members of the LGBTQ community who are currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)-approved programs. Applicants must be APA members; membership for students is free.
KNOWBE4 VETERANS, GUARD, RESERVE & SPOUSE CYBERSECURITY SCHOLARSHIP
By the time you submit your application, you must have finished all requirements for an undergraduate degree that will allow you to enroll in a postgraduate programme at a UK university. According to your subject and university selection, this is normally similar to an upper second-class 2:1 honours degree in the UK, though it may be different.
Award: $10,000
Deadline: August 28, 2024
A $10,000 scholarship to be applied to tuition, fees, books, and electronics, and up to $3,000 may be applied to on-campus housing. This award may be paid all at once or spread out over multiple semesters, including the summer session.
MILITARY CHILD OF THE YEAR AWARD
Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization, founded in 2002, is the brainchild of this scholarship. Its mission is to build strong, secure, and stable military families through its various assistance projects.
At present, 92% of the group’s funding is directed towards helping military families: from schooling to financial assistance, housing, as well as other family support services.
The Military Child of the Year Scholarship is an annual awards program. It awards scholarships to 6 deserving students (representing the different branches of the armed forces) coming from a military family. These scholars are selected based on their volunteerism, community leadership, or extracurricular involvement; and are given $10,000 each for their college funding. Submissions will close on December 3, 2023, at 11:59PM Central.
Eligibility:
1. Child must be a legal military dependent. Status confirmed by DEERS enrollment form.
2. Military children must be between the ages of 13 and 18, at the time of nomination.
3. Child and one adult guardian must be available to travel to the Washington, DC area April 9-12, during the month of the military child, for the Gala award presentation.
Note: Officers, directors, employees, and agents of Operation Homefront and its subsidiaries or affiliated organizations, and their immediate family members (parent, child, sibling, and spouse of each) and those living in the same households of each are not eligible to receive programs, services, grants, or donated goods intended for use by Operation Homefront’s clients.
Previous Military Child of the Year® Award Recipients, including Innovation Award recipients, are no longer eligible.
U.S. AIR FORCE ROTC SCHOLARSHIP
This is awarded to all cadets selected through the In-College Scholarship Program (ICSP) and pays up to $18,000 per year in college tuition at any public or private institution with an Air Force ROTC detachment. Scholarship payment is further capped at up to $9,000 per semester or up to $6,000 per quarter. Selectees will also receive a monthly living expense stipend and an annual book stipend.
Amount: $18,000
Deadline: 30th December 2024
-Applicant must attend a school with the Air Force ROTC program (host or crosstown) and must have completed at least one term of a full-time student.
-Student must be a United States citizen or be able to obtain U.S. citizenship by the last day of the term in which the student intends to be awarded a scholarship.
-Term and cumulative grade point averages will be used to assess your academic performance. The Air Force ROTC Commander will determine the minimum GPA and test scores, if applicable, for scholarship eligibility. Contact your school’s Air Force ROTC detachment for eligibility requirements.
Also commonly referred to as the Post 9/11 GI Bill, this bill is officially called the Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 and was created to help you pay for job training or school. Although this is not officially considered a scholarship grant, this bill is one of the most successful financial assistance programs for military personnel.
It was originally introduced in 1944 to help not only the active-duty and retired military personnel to afford a college degree, but also engineers, business owners, scientists, doctors, teachers, authors, and actors.
The Post 9/11 GI bill’s objective is to provide higher education opportunities to the millions of military service members who have served since September 11, 2001. This bill covers fees and tuition for in-state public undergraduate higher education for qualified veterans.
For graduate education, out-of-state tuition, or private institutions, these schools may come up with an agreement with the VA wherein the VA will match the contribution of an institution to cover added costs.
Eligibility:
1. You served at least 90 days on active duty (either all at once or with breaks in service) on or after September 11, 2001, or
2. You received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged after any amount of service, or
3. You served for at least 30 continuous days (all at once, without a break in service) on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged with a service-connected disability, or
4. You’re a dependent child using benefits transferred by a qualifying Veteran or service member
Note: If you’re a member of the Reserves who lost education benefits when the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) ended in November 2015, you may qualify to receive restored benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
ARMY WOMEN'S FOUNDATION TRIDENT UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship was established in 1969 as the Women’s Army Corps. Fourteen years later, the Army Women’s Foundation was founded and had raised more than $400,000 in charitable contributions.
Over the years, it has substantially grown into a foundation that is dedicated to army women and veterans to acknowledge their services and promote the public interest.
This scholarship program is the largest project of the Army Women’s Foundation. Each year, one lucky woman veteran is provided with a full-ride scholarship to Trident University. The scholar is awarded a scholarship worth more than $10,000 each year.
Eligibility:
1. Applicant must be a woman who has served or is serving honorably in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, or Army National Guard.
2. Applicant must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better for all prior coursework.
3. Applicant must have achieved an Undergraduate degree
GRAYDON AND MYRTH FOX SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship is offered to several programs to qualified students in the Sacramento Region. Created by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization aimed at philanthropic and civic works, this platform helps people to create charitable funds.
Community members are provided with the needed tools to come up with a way to generate funds that they think will benefit their community the most. From there, donations and financial contributions are accepted before they make their way to relevant organizations that need funding the most.
The Graydon and Myrth Fox Scholarship was created to help people who have served the Armed Services honorably, or to their family members. The scholarship acknowledges the sacrifices that these veterans and their families make. If selected, students get to receive up to $5,000 in financial aid to help them go through college.
Eligibility:
1. Applicants must be pursuing a degree at an accredited college, university, or trade school
2. Be a Veteran who has served honorably in the United States Armed Forces, a surviving spouse, dependent child or grandchild of a U.S. Veteran (DD 214 or proof of military service required).
3. Deceased or wounded Navy or Marine personnel must have been performing official military duties in a combat situation or military training exercise (DD form 1300 or DD 214 required).
4. Must demonstrate financial need.
MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SERVICE GRANT PROGRAM
This grant program is made available by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, Office of the Student Financial Assistance. One of their programs is called the Public Service Grant Program and is offered to students who lost their family member in the line of duty and public service.
A well-known scholarship for veterans and their families, this program is granted to students on an entitlement basis, and scholars are chosen based on their academic performance.
The chosen scholar will receive $2,500 in scholarship aid. This program is the only grant not based on an applicant’s financial need. Rather, it’s of entitlement.
Eligibility:
To qualify for this grant, a student must:
1. Be a legal and permanent resident of Massachusetts for at least one year before starting the year for which this scholarship is granted.
2. Be an eligible US citizen or non-citizen under the regulations of Title IV.
3. Already applied for financial aid via FAFSA
4. Be compliant with the Selective Service Registration
5. Be free of any state or federal student loans
6. Be enrolled at least 12 credits (or its equivalent) in either a certificate, an associate’s, or a bachelor’s degree program at a qualified institution
Want to Find More Scholarships?
Sign up on our website www.scholistapp.com to get matched with scholarships right for you.
Also, check out our blog where you can find other scholarships you qualify for and find tips on how to apply to scholarships.