Scholarships and Grants

Think that you won’t qualify for scholarships or grants? Or perhaps you think the application process will be too difficult? Don’t let that deter you—it’s like walking away from free money. Read more to learn about scholarship opportunities.

Often servicemembers, veterans, and dependents overlook the more than $300 million scholarship and grant opportunities available through government and private sources. These can vary in size from less than $100 to full tuition, room and board. Sometimes these valuable scholarships are never even claimed because of the following misconceptions:

• Misconception #1: All school expenses are covered through Military Education benefits.
  • While military education benefits can cover a lot of your expenses, they may not cover everything. It depends on your length of service, branch and contract. But with so many scholarships designed to make up for the extra expenses of school and living, there is no reason to rule them out.
• Misconception #2: The competition for scholarships is too stiff and applying is a lot of work
  • The truth is that the application process for scholarships varies widely. You may only need to fill out a short form, or you may have to write an essay. Even if you do have to write an essay, it’s good practice for your return to school. Plus, just think of the big payoff you might get in the end.
• Misconception #3: Finding a scholarship is tough.
  • With the right resources, it is simple. That’s why we’ve created the USMilitary.com’s Scholarship Finder, which features thousands of scholarships designed just for military servicemembers and their families.

Here are some tips for scholarship searching:

• Do your research. You may find that it can even be fun. Take advantage of our user-friendly Scholarship Finder to locate scholarships geared toward military personnel and their dependents.
• Use more than one resource. We think our scholarship database is great, and it is extremely useful, but you may also qualify for non-military scholarships. Visit your local library to use scholarship directories or use another online directory that lists a wide variety of scholarships.
• Look at the military related organizations in your community. You might be surprised how many service aid organizations, like the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, offer scholarships, grants and loans for educational use.
• Don’t wait until the last minute. Start your scholarship search early. The deadlines are generally months in advance and sometimes as much as a year in advance of the reward.

If you’re not searching and applying for scholarships, you could be losing out on a lot of free money. Use our Scholarship Finder now.