Top Scholarships for Veterans in 2021
If you are a military veteran or active duty, you may be eligible for scholarships and grants! Scholarships for veterans can include specific scholarships for military veterans, active duty members of the armed services, and also children and spouses of veterans.
Veterans may also qualify for other benefits from the federal government such as the GI Bill. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about financial aid and scholarships for military veterans.
Jump ahead to:
- Top scholarships for veterans
- Scholarships for children and spouses of veterans
- Guide to the GI Bill
- Yellow Ribbon Program
- Frequently asked questions
- Expired scholarships
Keep on reading to learn more about the various scholarships for veterans that can help pay for college.
Top scholarships for veterans
$500 WiseGeek No-Essay Military Appreciation Grant
- Eligibility: Active, former, or future service member of the US military who are U.S. Citizens or permanent legal residents
- Amount: $500
- Deadline: March 31, 2021
AMVETS Scholarships
- Eligibility: US Military Veterans and their spouses
- Amount: $5,000
- Deadline: April 30, 2021
FRA Education Foundation Scholarships
- Eligibility: Students must be full-time college students and veterans of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. If you are the spouse, parent, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild of a veteran of the aforementioned service branches, you are also eligible
- Amount: Up to $5,000
- Deadline: Applications are available from September 1st through April 15th each year
HotelPlanner.com Graduate Technology Scholarship
- Eligibility: Open to military veterans and their families (age 16 and over) pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree related to technology
- Amount: $1,000 (ten scholarships are awarded!)
- Deadline: Applications are due August 15 and December 15 of each year
Lint Center Scholarships
- Eligibility: There are a variety of scholarships available for students with an interest in a career in national security, including some scholarships specifically for veterans.
- Amount: Up to $2,000
- Deadline: Applications are due January 31 and July 31 of each year
SAIC Cyber Warrior Scholarship
- Eligibility: Students must be honorably discharged from one of the five U.S. military branches by April 14, 2021. This scholarship supports students who are pursuing cybersecurity certification training.
- Amount: Varies
- Deadline: March 15, 2021
Veteranpreneur Business Grant
- Eligibility: Must be a service member, veteran, or the spouse of a service member or veteran with interest in a construction trade business
- Amount: $25,000 (four grants are awarded each year!)
- Deadline: September 24, 2021
Scholarships for children and spouses of veterans
Some military scholarships support the children of veterans who have served in the armed forces. This may also extend to students who are the grandchildren (and sometimes even great great-children of a veteran) If you have a parent who was in a branch of the military, you may be eligible for these scholarships:
AFCEA War Veterans Scholarships
- Eligibility: Students must be on active duty or honorably discharged U.S. military veterans who are college sophomores or juniors. Students must also be studying an approved major (there is an extensive list on the scholarship website.
- Amount: $2,500
- Deadline: May 31, 2021
AMVETS Scholarships
- Eligibility: US Military Veterans and their spouses
- Amount: $5,000
- Deadline: April 30, 2021
Army Scholarship Foundation Awards
- Eligibility: US citizens who are school seniors, high school graduates, or registered as undergraduate students with a 2.0 GPA or higher. Applicants can be sons, daughters, or spouses of regular active duty, honorable or medical discharge, or members who were killed while serving in the U.S. Army as well as active duty Reserve/National Guard U.S. Army members in good standing
- Amount: $1,000 per year (and some can be reapplied for each year)
- Deadline: April 15 of each year
FRA Education Foundation Scholarships
- Eligibility: Students must be full-time college students and veterans of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. If you are the spouse, parent, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild of a veteran of the aforementioned service branches, you are also eligible
- Amount: Up to $5,000
- Deadline: Applications are available from September 1st through April 15th
HotelPlanner.com Graduate Technology Scholarship
- Eligibility: Open to military veterans and their families (ages 16 and over) pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree related to technology
- Amount: $1,000 (ten scholarships are awarded!)
- Deadline: Applications are due August 15 and December 15
Veteranpreneur Business Grant
- Eligibility: Must be a service member, veteran, or the spouse of a service member or veteran with interest in a construction trade business
- Amount: $25,000 (four grants are awarded each year!)
- Deadline: September 24, 2021
Women’s Army Corps Veterans’ Association Scholarship
- Eligibility: High school senior who is the child, grandchild, niece or nephew of an Army Service Woman with a with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale
- Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: February 2, 2022
GI Bill
The GI Bill helps veterans and active duty service people pay for school. If you have served on active duty after September 10, 2001, you may qualify for the educational benefits!
Notably, the GI Bill may cover the cost of public, in-state tuition and fees. The GI Bill rates for private and foreign colleges and universities is capped (this cap changes from year to year). The GI Bill also provides students with money for housing, books, supplies, and even moving expenses if they are moving from a rural part of the country.
You can learn more about the GI Bill through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Yellow Ribbon Program
The Yellow Ribbon Program is another financial aid program that the Department of Veterans Affairs runs. This program helps veterans pay for certain types of education that the Post-9/11 GI Bill that we discussed above does not cover. This includes out-of-state higher education, private school, or graduate school tuition.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, students can qualify for the Yellow Ribbon Program if they meet one of the following criteria:
- Served at least 36 months on active duty (either all at once or with breaks in service), or
- Received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged after any amount of service, or
- Served for at least 30 continuous days (all at once, without a break) on or after September 11, 2001, and were discharged after 60 days with a service-connected disability, or
- Are a dependent child using benefits transferred by a Veteran or a service member who has served for at least 36 months on active duty and qualifies at the 100% level, or
Find out about transferring Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits - Are a Fry Scholar (eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program on or after August 1, 2018)
Students must also ensure that their college or university participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program. You can use this tool to see which institutions are Yellow Ribbon partners.
Frequently asked questions
Are there grants for veterans applying for college?
Yes, students who are veterans are eligible for other types of financial aid! This aid can include grants that don’t need to be repaid, like Pell Grants and Federal SEOG Grants, as well as work study, and federal student loans.
To qualify for need-based grants and other financial aid there are two main applications that veterans should know about: the FAFSA and the CSS Profile.
The FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid is an application required to qualify for federal need-based financial aid. The CSS Profile is another application that some colleges may require to award institutional financial aid.
Be sure to check-in with your college to see which financial aid applications are required!
Are there other scholarships that veterans can apply for?
Veterans and active duty service members may be eligible for other scholarships including STEM Scholarships, computer science scholarships, and non-traditional Student Scholarships.
Expired scholarships
Ankin Law Military Scholarship
- Eligibility: Military veterans and immediate family members (spouses, parents, children) who will be attending college, community college, or vocational/technical school in fall of 2020.
- Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: July 15, 2020
Army Women’s Foundation Legacy Scholarship Program
- Eligibility: Applicant must be a woman who has served or is serving honorably in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, Army National Guard or the child of a woman who served honorably in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve or Army National Guard
- Amount: $1,000 to 2,500
- Deadline: January 15, 2021
Google SVA Scholarship
- Eligibility: Open to to student veterans who are planning to or already pursuing a higher education degree for computer science in the United States
- Amount: $10,000
- Deadline: December 4, 2020
Veteran’s Scholarship
- Eligibility: Open to veterans and their dependents who write an essay about a personal failure they have endured and what they did to overcome or learn from it
- Amount: $1,000
- Deadline: November 9, 2020
