Disabled Veteran Scholarships

Disabled Veteran Scholarships

There are specific disabled veteran scholarships for those students who served in the US military and are worth looking into because the biggest critera has already been met – served, disabled and now a former Vet. Being a soldier and coming back from a conflict can be stressful for many people as they work at reintegrating into the private sector. Many veterans decide to head off to school pursuing a degree in higher education. While this can be a difficult adjustment for these soldiers it is often more difficult for those who have been discharged honorably from the military because of disabilities received during the course of their military service.

Scholarships for disabled veterans exist for those students in just such a circumstance, having been hurt while performing duties and now looking to attend school so that they may make a smoother transition from military service to non-military work. There are many resources available which offer disabled veteran scholarships and interested students should be able to find much of the financial aid they may need.

Apart from looking towards the Federal Veterans Administration for financial assistance and other non-profit national organizations, many disabled veterans will be able to look towards local veteran’s lodges for additional funding. While not all veteran’s lodges offer such Vet scholarships, many do or, if they do not, will be able to direct their members towards other sources which will be able to assist them. Of course it is always a good idea for disabled veterans to check in with their local office of financial aid as it is very common for universities to either offer themselves or have listed a number of disabled veterans scholarships which will be available to interested students.

There are many national organizations which offer scholarships for disabled veterans, and one such group is the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). The AFCEA has recently begun providing the Disabled War Veterans Scholarship which provides multiple $2,500 scholarships to selected individuals. In order to be eligible for this Vet scholarship interested students must currently be enrolled an accredited institution at the freshman to senior levels of schooling. Students will need to be studying in a particular field including but not limited to electrical systems, aerospace, computer engineering, networking, and physics. All applicants will need to provide two letters of recommendation one being from a teacher and another from a current employer or public agency. Transcripts of an applicant’s academic history will need to be provided. This veteran scholarship is only available to those students who are currently active duty military personnel, honorably discharged United States veterans, reservists and those soldiers who have been disabled because of sustaining an injury from active-duty combat in either Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom. The deadline for this scholarship is April 1, 2011.

Members of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) group, a nationally recognized non-profit organization, will be eligible to apply for the Auxiliary National Education Scholarship Fund which provides several $1,500 disabled veteran scholarships every year. Being a DAV member is a prerequisite to gaining access to this Vet scholarship and, while renewals are not guaranteed, members can reapply for this scholarship up to five times in subsequent semesters. Interested students must be attending school at least part time and have a 2.5 grade point average in order to qualify for the full $1,500. Those students attending school for at least six credit hours are eligible for the same scholarship but the amount is reduced to $750. All applicants must be attending a university in the United States. Leadership and commitment to education will be used to help determine who will receive awards each year and the application has a space dedicated to clubs, extracurricular activities and volunteer opportunities applicants have been involved in. These spaces would wisely be used to indicate both a capacity for leadership and a sincere interest in pursuing a student’s current academic goals. A financial assessment will also be carried out on the application making financial need a measure by which the selection committee may assign this disabled veterans scholarship’s awards.

The deadline for the DAV Auxiliary Scholarship is March 15, 2011. While this disabled Vet scholarship is certainly a good source of funds, disabled veteran scholarships exist on multiple levels and students who are not members of DAV but are still in need of financial assistance would be wise to investigate many options especially at the local or college level.