FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Virginia –
The Feb. 14 deadline to submit applications to the Scholarships for Military Children program, administered by the nonprofit Fisher House Foundation, is almost here.
A total of 500 scholarship grants, each for $2,000, will be awarded for the 2024-25 school year with at least one recipient selected at every military commissary store location where qualified applications are received. Additional recipients will be selected based on a prorated basis, so more grants will be awarded to students at those commissaries with larger numbers of applicants.
The program was created in 2001 to recognize the contributions of military families to the readiness of the fighting force, and to celebrate the role of the commissary in the military community. It is open to sons and daughters of active duty, reserve/guard, or retired military commissary customers.
Now in its 24th year, the Scholarships for Military Children Program, through the generosity of Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) vendors and others, has awarded more than $23 million to more than 13,000 students, selected from a pool of nearly 117,500 applicants.
“Through their efforts and generosity Fisher House Foundation guarantees continued educational growth opportunities for the children of our military service members,” said Todd Heasley, DeCA’s military scholarships program liaison. “It’s an honor to partner with a premier non-profit foundation dedicated to the military community and families.”
Eligibility for the program is determined using the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) database. Applicants should ensure that they, as well as their sponsor, are enrolled in the DEERS database and have a current military dependent ID card. The applicant must also be planning to attend or already be attending an accredited college or university full time or be enrolled in a program of studies designed to transfer directly into a four-year program.
Applicants who are awarded a full scholarship to attend a college or university or receive an appointment to one of the service academies or affiliated preparatory schools are not eligible to receive funds from this program. A full scholarship is usually defined as one that provides for payment of tuition, books, lab fees and other expenses.
All rules and requirements for the program, as well as links to frequently asked questions and the application itself, are available on Fisher House’s Scholarships for Military Children web page.
“This program is instrumental in fostering the educational ambitions of our military families’ children, enabling them to actualize their aspirations in higher learning,” said Navy Command Master Chief Mario Rivers, senior enlisted advisor to the DeCA director. “I emphatically recommend that families with eligible students capitalize on this exceptional opportunity to enhance their educational dreams.”
Fisher House also hosts a custom scholarship search engine on its website, tailored to military families, called “Scholarships for Service.” It’s free, easy to use, and formatted for both mobile devices and computers at MilitaryScholar.org.
The Scholarships for Military Children program is managed by Scholarship Managers, a national, nonprofit organization. If students have questions about the scholarship program application, they should call Scholarship Managers at 856-616-9311 or email them at militaryscholar@scholarshipmanagers.com.
No government funds are used to support the Scholarships for Military Children Program. Commissary vendors, manufacturers, brokers, suppliers and the general public donate money to fund the program.