Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
Living with a disability is undoubtedly a challenge. As more and more advances are being made to give people with disabilities all of the resources they need to succeed in school and in the workplace, student with disabilities are also facing the same challenges as so many others: how to pay for college.
General Disability Scholarships
To meet this need, many foundations, corporations and non-profit organizations have created scholarship programs and scholarship funds specifically for people with disabilities. One of the major, national scholarship programs comes for the American Association on Health and Disability.
Scholarships are available to students with disabilities with a particular emphasis on those students who are looking to pursue disability studies or other health-related topics.
Disability Scholarships for Graduate School
For women with physical disabilities of any kind, the Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation (ELA) awards a number of graduate school scholarships. The ELA’s goal is to see more women in higher education, and ultimately to “change the face of disability on the planet.” To qualify for an ELA scholarship, you should be recognized as having a disability by the American with Disabilities Act.
Scholarships for the Vision or Hearing-Impaired
Many organizations that provide services to specific populations, like people with hearing or visual impairments, provide their own college scholarships. The Alexander Graham Bell Fund has scholarships for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, for both graduate and undergraduate study.
There are specific opportunities for people with visual impairments who are looking for scholarships for college. The National Federation for the Blind (NFB) is not only a fantastic resource for people living with visual impairments and blindness, it also has scholarship opportunities for students attending four-year institutions. Students who receive scholarships are invited to attend the NFB’s national convention, and participate in other activities. The Jewish Guild for the Blind (JGB) awards the GuideScholar award (up to $15,000) to outstanding students with visual impairments in their junior and senor years of high school.
More often, the best way to find a scholarships for students with disabilities is to contact the financial aid office at your school.
Many universities have special programs geared toward students with disabilities. There are even certain universities that have offices and programs devoted to special services for disabled students, to make sure that they have what they need to be successful. These include Boston University, New York University and Ohio State University.
To find out more about scholarships for students with disabilities, please look through our scholarship profiles which are continually updated.
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