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Pointing Military Children to Higher Education Funding Opportunities
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There are many scholarships and funding resources available to military children that are not available to the general public. Higher education professionals can assist these students by pointing them to scholarships and funding agencies that may be able to provide support to military dependents that do not qualify for VA Educational Assistance, or if their benefits do not fully cover the cost of tuition and other college expenses.
Yellow Ribbon Program
Allowing earned GI Bill® benefits to be transferred to dependents expanded the availability of a college education to many. Additionally, the Yellow Ribbon Program (YRP), available to those with 100% GI Bill® eligibility, further added to this benefit. Although not every school offers the YRP to all students, it is a useful benefit for those that are lucky enough to use it. If a student qualifies and the school provides YRP funding, your school will contribute a certain amount toward tuition and fees not immediately covered by the GI Bill®. The VA will then match that amount of funding. You can find out if your institution participates in this program here.
For those not 100% eligible for the GI Bill® and who do not qualify for VA Educational Benefits, there are other scholarship opportunities for military children that can help offset the costs of attending a university or college. The Scholarships for Military Children Program is a scholarship opportunity for students with a valid Uniformed Services Identification Card. A student's parent(s) must be at least one of the following: active duty, reserve/guard, deceased, or retired from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Space Force. Recipients are evaluated based on academic achievement, participation in school, community and volunteer activities, work experience, and a personal essay. The scholarship program offers 500 scholarship grants annually, each at a value of $2,000. Students can be awarded this scholarship up to four times while in school. Students must maintain a 2.5 GPA to be eligible for this scholarship. This scholarship is generally due mid-February.
Benefits by Branch
There are also more specific scholarship and grant opportunities for types of military children. For instance, the General Henry H. Arnold Education Grant Program and Scholarship for Air Force Enlisted Member's Dependent Children provides financial assistance for the children of active-duty and retired Air Force personnel. The Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society Gold Star Scholarship gives scholarships to the children of Navy and Marine personnel who were killed in the line of duty. The Tailhook Educational Foundation offers several scholarships annually averaging more than $3,500 to high school graduates and child or grandchild of a current or former Naval Aviator, Naval Flight Officer, Air-crewman, or individuals who served onboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and who are accepted for enrollment for an undergraduate program at an accredited college. The Army Scholarship Foundation provides scholarships to sons and daughters of individuals who currently serve or previously served in the U.S. Army or with the Army Reserve or National Guard. Additionally, descendants of women soldiers or retired women soldiers can apply to the Army Women's Foundation Legacy Scholarship for $1,000 for certificate and community college programs and $2,500 and $3,000 for undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
State-based Benefits
While there are opportunities available to all military children, there are several state-based scholarship programs for military children that should not be overlooked. Each state has an Office of Veterans Affairs that provides several resources for military-affiliated children. For example, the Montana Department of Military Affairs offers the Scholarship for the Dependents of POW/MIAs and the Scholarship for the Children of Deceased Veterans, which are only for Montana residents that are students at an accredited Montana state university or college. More state-specific scholarship opportunities can be found here.
Military Children on Campus
Military children often have unique stories that make them stand out from the general college student. They may have been stationed overseas with a more expansive perspective on life. They may have moved several times throughout their childhood, making them apt at navigating new circumstances and people. These students may have also had to undergo periods of time when parents were not around due to deployments, while also knowing that their parents very well could be in life-threatening and -altering situations. There are many situations that military children come to understand before traversing their adult worlds. Stories and lessons learned early could make for competitive and interesting stories that few others could replicate.
Military children have many abilities and qualities that can be shared and strengthened throughout their time in a university or college setting. For this reason, higher education professionals can help military children navigate their finances so they can continue sharing and drawing from their past experiences and learning from future experiences on campus.
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