Scholarships can go to exemplary students with mental health disabilities.
Scholarships for specific minorities, genders and academic and athletic talent are widely available for aspiring students pursuing a post-secondary degree. However, there are also scholarships targeted specifically to individuals who suffer from mental and learning disabilities. Some teens and adults may have mental conditions that prevent them from pursuing a higher education but others can overcome their learning challenges to study at a university. Scholarships for students with mental health disabilities are available for covering tuition, books and housing.
Ford Scholarship
Since 2002, the Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Scholarship Award has gone to exemplary students with documented learning disabilities. Two $10,000 awards are available to students who can articulate their dedication to pursuing a four-year college degree, establishing career goals and overcoming obstacles due to their learning disability.
Other criteria include an essay illustrating how the candidate's learning disability, family and community have shaped their perspective on his ability to effectively communicate and assert his own ideas and interests in society. Applicants should also be willing to serve as a role model and mentor to future scholarship winners if they are selected as a scholar. Scholarship candidates with U.S. citizenship, proof of financial need, standardization test scores and a minimum 3.0 GPA are eligible to apply.
P. Buckley Moss
The P. Buckley Moss Endowed Scholarship was founded in 2007 in memory of the artist P. Buckley Moss who had dyslexia. Candidates must be high school seniors who have been accepted to either a two-year or four-year college or university and will be majoring in visual arts. Visual arts degrees that qualify include painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and ceramics.
Candidates must demonstrate that they possess a language-related disability that affects areas such as reading comprehension, writing, visual perception, word recognition and sequencing. Additionally, applicants must be nominated by a P. Buckley Moss Society member, provide a high school transcript and visual arts portfolio and submit two letters of recommendation from a faculty member and non-relative. Award amounts are at least $1,500 and the number of recipients vary.
ADA Abilities
High school seniors, graduates and undergraduate students under the age of 40 are eligible to apply for the Bank of America ADA Abilities Scholarship Program. Associates and relatives of Bank of America are not eligible to apply. Applicants must submit written documentation proving their disability as stated under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Students must plan to major in finance, computer systems or business administration, and pursue a career with a banking institution. Up to $5,000 is awarded to each recipient. Scholarships renewal is contingent on a recipient's ability to maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA. Application requirements include an official high school or college transcript, SAT or ACT test scores, one faculty recommendation letter and an essay.
Schwallie
U.S. citizens suffering from autism or Asperger syndrome who are pursuing an undergraduate education can apply to the Schwallie Family Scholarship Program. Scholarship amounts are $3,000 each and awarded under three categories: four-year undergraduate college or university, two-year undergraduate college and vocational, trade or technical school. Scholarships are not renewable. Applicants must submit two references from non-relatives -- including faculty members, previous employers or community leaders -- and one letter of recommendation along with the application.
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