2013 Scholarships for military children opens

FORT LEE, Va. — In 2012, the Scholarships for Military Children Program celebrated a major milestone as it reached more than $10 million in scholarships awarded to 6,742 students from around the globe.

It's time, once again, to add to these impressive numbers, as applications for the 2013 Scholarships for Military Children Program will be available starting Dec. 3, at commissaries worldwide. You can also find them online through a link at http://www.commissaries.com and directly at http://www.militaryscholar.org.

Scholarship awards will be based on funds available, but the scholarship program awards at least $1,500 at each commissary. If there are no eligible applicants from a particular commissary, the funds designated for that commissary will be awarded as an additional scholarship at another store.

The scholarship program was created to recognize military families' contributions to the readiness of U.S. armed forces and to celebrate the commissary's role in the military community.

"DeCA is focused on supporting a good quality of life for our military and their families," said Defense Commissary Agency Director and CEO Joseph H. Jeu. "We do that by delivering a great commissary benefit, while our industry partners and public donations help the scholarship program provide money for higher education to many worthwhile students."

To apply for a scholarship, the student must be a dependent, unmarried child, younger than 21 — or 23, if enrolled as a full-time student at a college or university — of a service member on active duty, reservist, guardsman, retiree or survivor of a military member who died while on active duty or survivor of a retiree. Eligibility is determined using the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System database.

Applicants should ensure that they, as well as their sponsor, are enrolled in the DEERS database and have a current military ID card. The applicant must also be planning to attend or already attending an accredited college or university, full time, in the fall of 2013 or be enrolled in a program of studies designed to transfer directly into a four-year program.

Applicants must submit an essay on a topic chosen by the Fisher House. The essay topic will be available Dec. 3, on http://www.militaryscholar.org. Applications must be turned in to a commissary by close of business Feb. 22, 2013.

The scholarship program is administered by Fisher House Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to service members and their families. Scholarship Managers, a national, nonprofit, scholarship-management services organization, manages and awards these military scholarships. If students have questions about the scholarship program application, call Scholarship Managers at 856-616-9311 or email them at [email protected].

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. Every dollar donated goes directly to funding the scholarships.