Scholarship programs for veterans were established to give back to those noble citizens who serve (or currently serve) the United States through the armed forces.
Most armed forces members are already familiar with some of the federal programs designed to help them achieve academic success after they have served their term in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard or National Guard.
These federal programs, including the Montgomery GI Bill (www.gibill.va.gov) and Armed Forces Tuition Assistance Program, are some of the most sizable scholarships and financial aid funds around.
In most cases, these programs will cover 100% of tuition costs.
However, there are some courses and colleges that have costs that exceed what these federal scholarship programs for the armed forces can provide. In these rare cases, it might be necessary to seek some private funding for veterans in college.
One of the most well-established scholarship programs for veterans and their families is the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Educational Assistance Program (www.moaa.org). The MOAA facilitates scholarships and college loan programs to veterans of all ages, and has a special program for seniors in college who need financial assistance to get to graduation.
Another national scholarship program for veterans is fun through the Fund for Veterans Education (www.veteransfund.org), which was established specifically to address the gap between GI Bill funding and cost of education for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq since September 11, 2001.
Many of the foundations and government agencies that provide scholarships to veterans do so on a local level, either by state or by city. Colleges and universities themselves also have financial aid programs for veterans through their respective financial aid offices. For more information about these scholarships, you can contact your university directly.
Please visit our scholarship profiles for more information about scholarships for veterans and active armed forces personnel.
