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 Scholarships 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 every 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.
