The higher your desired degree level, the harder it is to find a military spouse scholarship. That's just a fact of regular life, forget military spouse life. But more and more organizations are focusing on offering scholarships to fill that gap. And a scholarship from the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) and Hilton is the newest in the line-up.
The scholarship, announced at the AMPA gala on May 13, will divvy up as much as $10,000 between five applicants with awards of between $1,000 and $2,500 each. With no limit on degree type other than the institution must be accredited, spouses seeking anything from a bachelors to a doctorate can apply, officials told me.
That's a rarity. MyCAA, for example, is only available to spouses who are married to troops of certain pay grades and seeking associates degrees or certificates. Many other scholarships focus on BA and BS programs. The post-9/11 GI Bill will work with any degree program, but you need to have it transferred to you, and to do so your service member must meet a variety of service benchmarks and not want to use his or her benefit themselves. Paying for education quickly gets tricky -- and really, really expensive. '
And it's open to pretty much anyone currently affiliated with the military spouse world in any way -- active duty, reserve, National Guard, retired, medically retired, or spouse of fallen service member. The broad category is perhaps because AMPA is all about that inclusivity life. After all, this organization was founded by military spouses who were not recognized as such thanks to a since-repealed law. Scholarship winners are simply selected by an impartial board of judges who are looking at the community service commitment of applicants, AMPA officials say.
If you want in on this one, however, you need to get on it. Applications are only open until June 15, and you have to be enrolled in your degree program to apply. You can find more on the AMPA site.
