List of Disability Scholarships
What are Disability Scholarships?
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Scholarships exist for many minority groups, and having a disability is no different.
There are thousands, of different scholarships available to those who suffer from all types of mental and/or physical disabilities. There are even scholarships designed for families with a parent(s) on disability allowance. Additionally, many private organizations award scholarship money to ensure students with disabilities are able to achieve their college goals, despite learning issues, environmental challenges, or medical bills. These scholarships, loans, and grant programs help thousands of disabled people pay for school and college tuition every year.
Some scholarships cover full costs of education, including tuition, books, and living costs; some match financial need; and other scholarships are local, small, and intended to support students in making education or institution choices. Unlike college loans which must be reimbursed, disability scholarships, like all scholarships, should never cost the student (or his or her parents) any money and do not need to be paid back.
A law was passed in the United States in 1975 called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The main intent was to make sure that over 40 million Americans would have more accessibility and mobility in the U.S.. This law was amended to include other benefits which allowed other organizations to provide grants and free disability scholarship awards through (IDEA). A good example of this is the National Federation for the Blind and the National Association of the Deaf who both award scholarship and grant money for the disabled through (IDEA). After (IDEA) made the act of segregation of disabled students an illegal one a number of universities and colleges have stepped up and made education funding available for the disabled.
While federal governments provide money solely for those with some sort of physical or mental disability, which is estimated to be about forty million Americans, private organizations are where most of the scholarships for people with disabilities come from. Many institutions and organizations today offer financial aid for students with disabilities in the form of scholarships, opening the way for better educational opportunities.
How do I Know if I Qualify for a Disability Scholarship?
Scholarships for persons with disabilities that help subsidise education expenses come in various types including:
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* Wheelchair User Scholarships
* Learning Disability Scholarships
* Veteran and Military Scholarships
* Scholarships for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
* General Scholarships for People with Disabilities
* Blind, Low Vision, Visually Impaired Scholarships
(The above list will be expanded as we receive further disability scholarship submissions from institutions, schools, colleges, and private educational organizations)
Searching online for disability scholarships
If you have any sort of disability, you should look and see if you can get a grant, scholarship, or free money. You want to do an online search for "scholarships for (Your disability or condition)". Even if you feel it is something minor, there is always a possibility there may be some financial offers out there you will want to explore further.
List of Disability Scholarships - Types and Information
Articles
- Scholarship Information - Video clip providing basic scholarship information for applicants.
- Scholarships.com - List of disability scholarships from a database of over 2.7 million college scholarships.
- Scholarships for Students with Disabilities - Drexel University Office of Disability Services provides an up to date listing of various disability scholarships by category.
FinAid - Financial Aid for Students with Disabilities - Information about scholarships and fellowships for students with disabilities. Some of the more general listings and scholarship databases may contain information relevant to students with disabilities.
- Scholarship - A scholarship is a financial aid that aims to help students with their living costs and therefore varies in amount depending on the student’s status.
