Scholarships for Diabetics
Win Special Funding Awards
If you are one of the thousands of people who has diabetes, there is a slight silver lining to your medical challenges. Specifically, there are scholarships available to those who are Type 1 and/or Type 2 diabetics.
Though the monies aren't guaranteed and the number of scholarships is somewhat limited, it's worth looking into if you have the disease. Below, we'll examine a few of the diabetes-related scholarships that could substantially help you pay for part of your tuition.
Nonprofit Scholarships for Diabetics
There are foundations and nonprofit organizations whose basic missions are to educate the public about diabetes while making life better for those who have been diagnosed with the disease. Some of these places are also in positions to offer diabetic students scholarship dollars to offset the increasing costs of attending college.
Case in point is the Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards, established by Billie Jean King in 1998. This scholarship is available to anyone between the ages of 14 and 21 who has diabetes and plays tennis on a team or for a league (rather than for recreational purposes only.) The awards equal $5,000 for each scholarship.
Another example of this kind of organization is the Austin Community Foundation in Texas, the administrator of the Aimee Melissa David Memorial Scholarship Fund. This award is given annually to a high school student who has Type I diabetes.
The Diabetes Scholars Foundation (DSF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit, offers college scholarships which are available to sutents in the United States with Type 1 diabetes. Their scholarships are not based on financial need; and not solely on academic achievement. We look at the whole student and factors that include community involvement, activities, advocacy, and leadership. Applicants must furnish an essay and letters of recommendation from both a physician treating their diabetes and a high school counselor/teacher.
Finally, the Diabetes Hope Foundation offers a variety of scholarships for students with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. In fact, they are known for issuing over 100 of their scholarships in differing amounts each year.
College/University Scholarships for Diabetics
Some institutions of higher learning also have scholarships specifically geared toward the diabetic students who will be attending their campuses. Such is the case at Arizona State University (ASU), where the Julie Sargent Memorial Scholarship is offered to full-time ASU students who have juvenile diabetes and are Arizona residents.
Also: although the college or university you're planning to attend may not specifically have diabetes-related scholarships, they may consider diabetes a disability. If this is the case, it's possibly that you could be awarded scholarship monies because you are classified as "disabled." However, this has caused a bit of controversy in the past; you'll need to check with the school(s) you wish to attend to see if you fall under their descriptions of "disabled" student before applying for any free funding streams. See our disability scholarships page for more options.
