A Handful of Schools Reach out to Disabled Veterans
The University of Idaho has offered the blueprint for Operation Education to around 5,000 colleges and universities nationwide. Other institutions now using the program include:
Adrian College
Adrian College now offers the Operation Education Scholarship to disabled veterans. The college will provide the veterans with the services they need – housing, books, food, and other academic support requirements – as well as physical and emotional support. If the soldier has a spouse or family, they also will receive the college’s benefits. For more information, visit www.adrian.edu.
Numerous scholarships exist for children and/or spouses of deceased and disabled veterans. Following are a few scholarship programs for wounded veterans, which are different from the customized aid packages offering financial, academic and social support provided by the University of Idaho's Operation Education Scholarship Program.
American Sentinel University
This online university offers a Severely Injured Scholarship Program for severely injured Service members (and their spouses) covering half the cost of tuition, books and material.
Arkansas State University
The university has implemented a new center for the Personal Rehabilitation, Individual Development and Education (PRIDE) of injured military personnel who would benefit from rehabilitation and training in a university environment. It is being established not only to offer rehabilitation and prepare wounded warriors for post-service careers, but also to provide peer and family support during this critical period of these veterans' lives. It includes specialized physical and mental rehabilitation services that are available on campus, including physical therapy, speech language pathology and mental health counseling.
Bellevue University (Nebraska)
Offers five $1,000 scholarships annually to any service member who has been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered during combat.
Boston University Metropolitan College
Offers two $5,000 scholarships annually to service members who have been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat.
Capella University
This online university provides five $10,000 scholarships to Service members wounded in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Central Michigan University
Offers scholarships to severely injured service members who have received their injuries while serving in combat or spouses of such service members.
Coastline Community College (Fountain Valley, Calif.)
Offers five $1,000 scholarships for severely injured service members and their spouses.
Dartmouth College
Provides individualized college counseling to seriously injured veterans. The program has hired three full-time college counselors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, to help veterans meet their educational aspirations.
De Anza College (Cupertino, Calif.)
De Anza College Scholarships for Veterans are awarded to military vets seeking degrees in business, engineering, medicine, science or technology. Applicants must have a minimum 2.5 GPA, as well as have and maintain an enrollment of at least 6 credits per quarter. Financial need is a requirement. All applicants must have sustained an injury in combat or served in a combat zone. Awards are $2,000.
ECPI College of Technology (Virginia, N.C, S.C. and Online)
Offers annual scholarships of up to $6,000 for severely injured service members.
Grantham University Online
The Military Severely Injured Scholarship is available to active duty military and military veterans. The four-year scholarship provides tuition and fees. Required textbooks and software are the responsibility of the veteran.
Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.)
Offers $1,000 scholarships for Service members severely injured or disabled in the line of duty or their spouses or dependent children.
Paralegal Tech University
Every two months, this online university offers a full scholarship to service members or veterans who have been wounded in the line of duty.
Sessions Online School of Art and Design
The $1 million Louis H. Schilt Memorial Scholarship program was created to help physically and mentally injured servicemen and women or their spouses build new careers in the graphic and Web design fields. The program represents a bold effort to use online education to provide career training for an injured veteran community that can benefit from the unique project-based, one-to-one mentoring educational model. The scholarship covers full tuition for the renowned, award-winning Sessions Graphic Design or Web Design Foundation I programs and provides students with state-of-the-art Apple iMac computers and professional-level graphic and Web design software.
Texas A&M University
Provides 25 scholarships, known as Honored Service Scholarships, each valued at $3,000. They are intended to supplement the living expenses of the veterans who qualify for the stipends and have a demonstrated need for such assistance. To qualify, a recipient must meet specific Veterans Administration requirements for disability assistance and be a resident of Texas.
University of Maryland University College (Adelphi, Md.)
Provides five annual $1,200 scholarships to service members who have been severely injured in the line of duty, or spouses or dependents of severely injured Service members.
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Offers the Wounded Veterans Fund to severely wounded service members or their spouses to assist in covering the cost of a postsecondary education.
University of Wyoming
The Marna M. Kuehne Foundation of Sheridan created an endowed scholarship fund at UW for Wyoming veterans with disabilities who wish to pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees. There are more than 5,200 Wyoming veterans whose disabilities are directly connected to their military service. The average annual award can range from $1,000 to $10,000 depending upon the recipient's financial need.