Military Scholarships

Military scholarships can help students with high school, college, or graduate education costs. There are at least three different kinds of military scholarships for military schools. Keep reading to learn more about military scholarships.

Different Types of Military Scholarships

Military scholarships can refer to quite different a few types of financial assistance for schooling.

• The branches of the United States Armed Forces, the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy, award military scholarships to service members, their spouses, and their dependents, as well as to young men and women who are planning to serve and receive college military scholarships in exchange for a commitment to serve when their education has been completed.

• Other organizations that are not part of the US military forces but maintain close ties with the military also provide military scholarships to servicemen and servicewomen and their immediate families.

• The third type of military scholarship is a financial aid award to a student who attends any place of learning called a military school or military academy. This may also be known as a military school scholarship.

Military Scholarships from the Armed Forces

The Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) provides as much as 36 months of education benefits to veterans who are eligible. The Department of Veterans Affairs Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) and the US Department of Defense (through the MyCAA Program) offer benefits to dependents of veterans and active duty military respectively. The US Armed Forces have several different scholarship programs. Members of the ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) and Junior ROTC programs, which exist in all branches of the service except the Coast Guard, may receive college military scholarships in exchange for their service commitment.

Military Scholarships from Other Organizations

There are a number of outside scholarships for those who have served in the military and their immediate families. Here are three:

• The Pat Tillman Foundation, an organization founded by family and friends of the Army Ranger and professional football player who died in an ambush in Afghanistan in 2004, provides scholarships for veterans, active service members, spouses, and dependents younger than age 30 as Tillman Military Scholars. The awards can be applied to higher education and vocational school training.

• The American Legion Legacy Scholarship  is provided by the American Legion to children who had a parent who dies during active service on or after September 11, 2001.

• Scholarships for Military Children, working through commissary locations, provides a minimum of one $1500 scholarship for undergraduate studies to an unmarried child of an active, reserve, national guard, retired, or deceased military member each year

Military School Scholarships

Like other private college prep schools, military schools (also known as military academies), generally award military scholarships to some of their students, based on need, general academic merit, or special (and specially honed) talents and abilities. In addition, families with multiple children enrolled in a military school may receive scholarships based on that fact. As with other private schools (and colleges), scholarships often form just a portion of a financial aid package that may also include loans and grants.

Sources

goarmy.com

gibill.va.gov

military.com