Scholarships for Military Spouses and Children: Finding and Applying for the Best Scholarships for You

Looking for help paying for college? Grants and scholarships for military spouses and children are available throughout the year.
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Military Scholarships for Dependents - Spouses and Children
Table of Contents
  1. Scholarship Benefits
  2. Seven Tips to Find and Apply for Scholarships
    1. Tip #1: Know Where to Look
    2. Tip #2: Don’t Limit Yourself to Military Scholarships
    3. Tip #3: Search Within Your Military Community
    4. Tip #4: Don’t Just Apply to the Big Scholarships
    5. Tip #5: Make Applying for Scholarships Your Part-Time Job
    6. Tip #6: Tailor Your Essay
    7. Tip #7: Use Perfect Grammar Every Time
  3. Top Military Scholarships for Spouses and Children
    1. Air Force Association
    2. Army Emergency Relief
    3. Association of the United States Army
    4. Coast Guard Foundation
    5. Fisher House Scholarships for Military Children
    6. Folds of Honor
    7. Fry Scholarships
    8. Navy Wives Clubs of America
    9. ThanksUSA
    10. The Society of Daughters of the United States Army
    11. Wings Over America
  4. More Ways to Pay for Education

Even though the cost of higher education has been increasing faster than inflation for decades, higher education doesn’t necessarily have to be accompanied by debt. Grants and scholarships for military children, military spouses and other military-connected students are available throughout the year, and unlike loans, they never need to be paid back.

Scholarship Benefits

The best part of scholarships is that they never need to be paid back. 

The second-best scholarship news is that some require minimal effort. Sorting through scholarship applications and deadlines online might be the most time-consuming part. After you know what you’re applying for and when it’s due, any scholarships simply require your basic personal information and a short essay or personal statement.

Seven Tips to Find and Apply for Scholarships

Read on to learn seven tips for finding and applying for the best scholarships for military-connected students.

Tip #1: Know Where to Look

Searching for scholarships can feel overwhelming because there are thousands of scholarships out there and many resources for finding them available online. You don’t want to spend your time sorting through pages and pages of scholarships you aren’t eligible for. That’s why it’s helpful to use tools to help you find and sort through any military-connected scholarships you qualify for.

Militaryscholar.org, a military scholarship database hosted by the Fisher House Foundation, can point you in the direction of many military-specific scholarships you may qualify for. 

Other scholarship databases such as Fastweb.com can help match you with both military and non-military scholarships.

Tip #2: Don’t Limit Yourself to Military Scholarships

While being connected to the military can be a large part of our identities, it’s not the only thing that qualifies you for scholarships. Business associations and nonprofit organizations with different goals all offer scholarships aimed toward certain populations. In fact, there are scholarships out there for just about anything you can think of. Are you a first-generation college student? Are you a golf-lover? Are you left-handed? Do you love community service or poetry-writing?

Expand your search beyond military-specific scholarships to find the most opportunities.

Tip #3: Search Within Your Military Community

Associations, clubs and organizations frequently have membership- or location-based scholarships available. Your local spouses’ club may have an annual scholarship fund set up to help spouses and dependents pursuing higher education, for example. Don’t overlook opportunities near you.

Tip #4: Don’t Just Apply to the Big Scholarships

The larger the scholarship award amounts, the more people are likely to apply for it. Expressing interest in and applying for less well-known scholarships will increase your chances of standing out.

Tip #5: Make Applying for Scholarships Your Part-Time Job

Don’t apply for just one scholarship or even apply for scholarships at only one time of the year. Scholarship due dates are rolling throughout the year, and new scholarships become available monthly. Make it part of your weekly routine to research and apply for scholarships. 

It may be the most lucrative part-time job you ever have.

Tip #6: Tailor Your Essay

Readers can easily tell if someone has repurposed an essay or tweaked it to meet their requirements. Nothing gives you away faster than forgetting to change the organization’s name or submission date in your application and essay.

Tip #7: Use Perfect Grammar Every Time

When it comes to grammar and spelling mistakes, make sure you’ve corrected them. Bad grammar makes a negative impression on the reader, and scholarship reviewers often quickly move on to the next applicant once they’ve found an error.

Top Military Scholarships for Spouses and Children

Many more scholarships exist online for military-connected students than are on this list. Use this as a jumping-off point to getting scholarship money for your higher-education pursuits.

Air Force Association

Where: Air Force Association 

Who: Dependent on scholarship opportunity; available for Air Force and Space Force active duty, retired, veterans, spouses and children

What: Multiple scholarships available for varying amounts

When: Application cycle runs from Dec. 1 until April 30

Army Emergency Relief

Where: Army Emergency Relief, MG James Ursano Scholarship Program 

Who: Children of Army soldiers obtaining their first undergraduate degree

What: Award amounts vary 

When: Application cycle runs from Jan. 1 until April 1

Association of the United States Army

Where: Association of the United States Army 

Who: Dependent on scholarship opportunity; available for active duty, retired, veterans, National Guard and Reserve service members, as well as spouses and children

What: Multiple scholarships available for varying amounts

When: Applications open in February

Coast Guard Foundation

Where: Coast Guard Foundation 

Who: Spouses and children of enlisted Coast Guard members, children of fallen Coast Guard members and enlisted Coast Guard members

What: Award amounts vary

When: Dates posted in February

Fisher House Scholarships for Military Children

Where: Fisher House Scholarships for Military Children 

Who: Children whose parent(s) are serving or have served in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard

What: $2,000

When: Applications due by Feb. 17

Folds of Honor

Where: Folds of Honor 

Who: Military spouse or children of a member of the Armed Forces 

What: Award amounts vary; available for a spouse or child obtaining a first bachelor’s degree; available for child primary and secondary education tuition or tutoring services 

When: Application cycle runs from Feb. 1 until March 31

Fry Scholarships

Where: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship 

Who: Spouse or children of active-duty service member who died in the line of duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001; proposed Fry Scholarship Enhancement Act of 2021 would also include spouses and children of service members who die from service-connected disabilities within 120 days of serving

What: Up to 36 months of benefits, including money for tuition, housing, books and supplies

When: Continual basis

Navy Wives Clubs of America

Where: Navy Wives Club of America 

Who: Spouses and children of enlisted members of the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard

What: Multiple scholarships available for varying amounts

When: Applications due by March 31

ThanksUSA

Where: ThanksUSA 

Who: Military spouses and college-age children obtaining their first undergraduate degree

What: $3,000

When: Application cycle runs from March 1 until April 15

The Society of Daughters of the United States Army

Where: The Society of Daughter of The United States Army 

Who: Daughter, granddaughter, stepdaughter or adopted daughter of a career commissioned or warrant officer in the United States Army

What: $1,500

When: Application due by March 15

Wings Over America

Where: Wings Over America Foundation 

Who: Navy Aviation dependent child or spouse

What: Award amounts vary

When: Pre-qualification deadline is Feb. 1

More Ways to Pay for Education

  • These tips and tricks and accompanying scholarship lists are a great place to start your journey to pay for higher education. Don’t let that be the end of it though. To qualify for more grants, scholarships, work-study jobs and federal loans, you need to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 
  • If your parent who served qualified for GI Bill benefits, it’s possible for them to transfer the benefit to you. Find out more about military benefits, including the GI Bill, with The Military Wallet.

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