Other Scholarships and Grants for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired

Organizations Offering Scholarships

Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)

The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired offers the Ferrell Scholarship to students who are legally blind and are preparing for a career in the education or rehabilitation of blind or visually impaired children or adults. For an application or additional information, contact:

AER Ferrell Scholarship Fund
1703 N. Beauregard Street, Suite 440 Alexandria, VA 22311
Telephone: 703-671-4500 Website: www.aerbvi.org/resources/aer-scholarships

The Blinded Veterans Association (BVA)

The Blinded Veterans Association offers scholarships to dependent children and spouses of veterans of the United States Armed Forces who are blind (either service or nonservice connected.) Veterans need not be members of the Blinded Veterans Association. For applications or additional information, contact:

The Kathern F. Gruber Scholarship Program and the Thomas H. Miller Awards Blinded Veterans Association 477 H Street N.W. Washington, DC 20001-2694 Telephone: 202-371-8880 Website: https://bva.org/programs/scholarships-awards/

The Christian Record Services

The Christian Record Services offers scholarships in all areas of study to undergraduate students who are legally blind. For applications or additional information, contact:

Christian Record Services 4444 South 52nd Street Lincoln, NE 68516 Telephone: 402-488-0981 Website: https://www.washington.edu/doit/christian-record-services-scholarship

e-mail: info@christianrecord.org

Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Inc.

The Lavelle Fund for the Blind offers the Brother James P. Kearney Scholarship Program for the Blind, which aims to help make quality undergraduate and graduate education affordable for U.S. residents who are legally blind, financially needy, and attending any of 11 selected private colleges and universities in New York State and Northeastern New Jersey. For requirements and procedures for applying to eligible colleges' Financial Aid offices, contact:

Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Inc. 307 West 38th Street, Suite 2010 New York, NY 10018 Telephone: (212) 668-9801 Website: https://lavellefund.org/scholarship_program/

Learning Ally

Learning Ally offers the Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Awards (SAA) for college seniors and graduate students who are blind or visually impaired and the Marion Huber Learning Through Listening (LTL) Awards for high school seniors who are learning disabled. For applications or additional information, contact: Learning Ally Scholarship Office 20 Roszel Road Princeton, NJ 08540 Telephone: 609-243-7051 Website: https://learningally.org/NAA

Lighthouse Guild

The Lighthouse Guild offers scholarships to college-bound high school seniors who are legally blind. For applications or additional information, contact: The Lighthouse Guild 15 West 65th Street New York, NY 10023 Telephone: 212-769-7801 Website: https://lighthouseguild.org/support-services/academic-and-career-services/scholarships/ e-mail: scholars@lighthouseguild.org

National Federation of the Blind (NFB)

The National Federation of the Blind's annual scholarship program is the largest in the nation. Every year, we award more than $250,000 in cash and prizes to blind scholars across the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in recognition of their achievements and professional aspirations.: Chairperson, NFB Scholarship Committee Jernigan Place 200 East Wells Street Baltimore, MD 21230 Telephone: (410) 659-9314, x. 2415 Website: www.nfb.org/scholarships e-mail: scholarships@nfb.org

Colleges and Universities Offering Scholarships

Fordham University Law School

Fordham University Law School offers the Amy Reiss Endowed Scholarship to students who are physically disabled and are interested in pursuing a J.D. degree from Fordham Law School. For an application or additional information, contact: Director of Financial Aid Fordham University 140 West 63rd Street New York, NY 10023 Telephone: 212-636-6815 Web site: https://www.fordham.edu/info/20645/financial_aid

Western Michigan University

For many years, the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies at Western Michigan University has received federal and other grants to provide student financial support. Several scholarships and graduate assistantships are also available through other sources. Some type of financial support is available at most times to students. However, specific levels of support vary depending on grant cycles and other factors.

Most financial support requires students to become employed after graduation in vision rehabilitation for two years for every year that support is provided. A limited number of graduate assistantships are available. These assistantships provide financial assistance to students who work 10 to 20 hours a week for the department.

Prospective students should contact program coordinators to verify the support available under specific circumstances. For applications or additional information, contact: Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies Attention: Nancy Cretsinger Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49008 Telephone: 616-387-3455 Website: http://www.wmich.edu/visionstudies/scholarships e-mail: nancy.cretsinger@wmich.edu