Scholarships for Students with Disabled Parents
| April 1, 2011 | Posted by admin under Disability Scholarships, disabled parents scholarships |
Disabled Parents Scholarships
Many times students who have one or more parents or guardians who suffer from a disability have a more difficult time affording college because of the likelihood that the family’s earning potential is also likely debilitated. To help students who find themselves in this particular situation, a few organizations fund scholarships for students with disabled parents and who have at least one parent with a disability.
There are not many general parent disability scholarships, but an excellent place to search for scholarships specific to a particular disability is disabilityscholarships.us. They have compiled scholarships on a number of physical and mental disabilities, from ADD to Cystic Fibrosis to Spina Bifida. The site will provide names of the scholarships as well as the amount offered and will give a brief overview of the award. This way you can look through a number of scholarships and jot down those which seem most promising to look up later. Most others not found their can easily be found with the title and any search engine, though.
Through the Looking Glass is the National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families and this organization funds several $1,000 disabled parents scholarships yearly for students pursuing higher education. The 2011 deadline is March 1 and next year’s fund will determine the scholarships able to be awarded for the 2011-2012 school year.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society funded approximately $1 million in scholarships awarded to 470 students whose lives have been directly or indirectly affected by MS. These disabled Scholarships generally range from $1,000 to $3,000, although a few may exceed this amount. The scholarship application period closes in mid-January they are awarded usually in April to college freshmen and are one time scholarships for disabled students only. Information for 2012 scholarships will be available in Oct. 2011.
Veterans of any branch of the US Military have paid a high cost for our country and its citizens. One way to support these individuals and their families is through educational scholarships. The Paralyzed Veterans of America has disabled parents scholarships and offer $500 scholarships to part-time college students and $1,000 to full-time students that are Paralyzed Veterans members, spouses or dependent, unmarried children under the age of 24. Applications for the 20011-2012 school year must be submitted online by June 17, 2011
The Kathern F. Gruber Scholarship is affiliated with The Blinded Veterans Association, because Gruber was one of its pioneer members. Spouses or children of a blinded veteran are eligible for the scholarships. It is a one year scholarship but can be reapplied for and awarded up to four times to an eligible student. The blinded member of the family need not be a BVA member for an applicant to receive the award. Applications for the six $2,000 awards for the 2011-2012 school years must be received by Friday April 15, 2011.
Another scholarship available to children of wounded, deceased or missing servicemen and women is from the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund. The amount available for award yearly is dependent on donations, but hundreds of disabled scholarships have been awarded to the children of faithful service people since 1989. Students receiving an initial disability scholarship may be eligible for its renewal for up to four total years, as long as the student meets eligibility requirements such as a 2.0 GPA. The deadline for the 2011-2012 school years is June 30, 2011.
There are also several scholarships for students with disabled parents available to children who lost a parent or whose parent became disabled as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The Families of Freedom Scholarship is offered to such a student attending Columbia Basin College. The $20,000 Glenn D. Kirwin September 11th Fund is awarded to a junior or senior student at the University of Virginia, with special consideration given to children whose parents were a victim of Sept. 11.
There are professional disability studies scholarships available directed at students who are planning to make a career out of working for those with mental or physical disabilities. There are a few national organizations offering disabled studies scholarships and many colleges offering similar awards through their own college programs. There is a vast number of disabilities in which you can plan a field of study on while attending college so this may be well worth investigating.
There are many things that can be considered a disability. Severe illness is not often considered a disability but it can be as devastating and detrimental to the financial and emotional status of a family. Where there are few general disability scholarships, there are many more general scholarships for life-threatening illness, like cancer. If you have a parent who suffers from a disability, you might want to also check some of the requirements for illness scholarships, as your circumstance may fit some of those general eligibility requirements. A good place to start for a listing and general description is the disabilityscholarships.us site.
My son attended his Freshman year of college at Birmingham Southern College. I, his mother, have since been physically disabled and we are in dire need financial aid along with fafsa. Can you help is find scholarships or grants for students with disabled parents with limited income?
God bless, Heather Merchant
Heather,
go to http://www.disability.gov/ to read more which can help you. Make sure you sign up to get their newsletter – it’s good usable information. Also go to your states website look for student aid for disabled students. Government student loans without cosigner needed are a great option for anyone looking for student aid.
I am on disability due to severe asthma and complications of prednisone dependency. My husband is the only one that is working. Our youngest son is a senior in high school and has applied at Utah State University for the fall session. Are there any scholarships available for us? Thank you so much, Karen
Karen,
apply to as many as you can. You may want to contact Utah State University FinAids office to discuss student aid specific to your particular situation. They will be more then happy to help in any way they can. Go to high school scholarships for seniors to read more. Student loans without a cosigner needed are also a great option if scholarships don’t work out.
I have a mother who has a severe case of arthritis in her hands. She also has slipped discs in her back and both of her knees are in bad shape. I have a learning disability too are there any scholarships that are avilable that I could look into to continue my college education? I greatly appreciate your help in this matter.
Melanie,
go to learning scholarships.
I am an injured R.N. who’s career came to a halt after lifting a patient and suffering a back injury. After two unsucessful surgeries I can no longer practice nursing and am permanently disabled. My daughter who has narcolepsy is about to apply to colleges and would like to find out if there are any scholarships that she could apply for. Any help would be appreciated.
susan,
we are not familiar with any scholarships just for narcolepsy. The best plan of action is to look for organizations which support narcolepsy and see if they have any educational student aid programs your daughter can apply to. As long as she has a documented case of this then she should be a good candidate for them. Otherwise apply to any general disability scholarship program – ones where you just have to have any documented case of a disability.
If your daughter is living at home then you may be able to collect monies from SS because you have a disability and she is living at home with you. Check into SS programs to see.
Michael,
I am a disabled law enforcement officer from Ga. I have heart disease. My daughter will be attending college in the fall of 2013. I am trying to find any type of scholarships that would be applicable thanks!
michael,
have her check out this great website at high school scholarships fro college. She will have to qualify based on her own financial situation, but there should be many need based grants and scholarships to look into. Read more at FAFSA to get started. Also go to: https://plus.google.com/102271280541171131946/about?hl=en
My mother was diagnosed with DDD in 06 and my father has recently had a stroke so neither one of them are able to work. We were able to make it while my father was working, but now thats all gone. I am in dire need of more money to finish out my last semester at college (I start a new semester in Aug and it will be my last yr there). I am currently enrolled and filled out fafsa but didnt get enough to pay for everything. This scholarship would work perfectly but I cant seem to find where to fill out an application or anything. Could you find that for me and if you have any other scholarships/grants that would work, PLEASE let me know!!! Thank you.
Laura,
You can apply to any scholarship on our website by going directly to the scholarship sponsors website. You must apply to see if you have a chance to win a schoolarship.
As a great last resort, government student loans without cosigners needed are the sure way to pay for your college.
Ok, thank you. So where would I go to apply for this one?
Laura,
you must go to the scholarship sponsor’s website to apply. Sometimes we put the link in the article, other times you mat have to search for it. It depends if they change the URL of the scholarship page every year we will not put the link in the article.