Scholarships Available in Maryland for Service Members
Service members avoid debt, earn degrees with Maryland scholarships
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Two of Washington College's first Hodson Trust Star Scholarship recipients, Lance Corporal James H. Schelberg, USMC and Corporal Charles P. Grigg, USMC flank the late Finn Caspersen, Chairman of the Hodson Trust when the scholarships were founded in 2007. Called back to active duty, Schelberg (left) plans to return for his senior year this fall. Grigg is set to graduate in May.
Charles Grigg, a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, will graduate this spring from Washington College in Chestertown, Md., after receiving one of the most generous military scholarships in the state - more than $100,000 in education costs over four years.
Grigg was one of three veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive Washington College's first Hodson Trust Star Scholarships, a program that pays for military servicemen and women's higher education on four campuses - Washington, Johns Hopkins University, Hood College in Frederick and St. John's College in Annapolis. The program was launched in 2007.
While the Hodson scholarships cover all educational expenses - including classes, books, student fees, and room and board - there are a host of military-specific scholarships that offer some relief from tuition prices that can require substantial student loans over a four-year education. Some are available to all military members, while others target service members that fit specific criteria, such as single parents, Purple Heart recipients and wounded veterans.
"It is an extreme relief knowing that I'm beginning my job hunt without having that debt looming over my head," said Grigg, 25, a Shady Side, Md., resident who served an 18-month tour in Iraq that ended in April 2007. "A lot of my friends have that debt, and they're already feeling the effects of it. In one sense I feel kind of bad because I don't have to go through that. But on the other hand, I know that I've been through something that most people will never get to experience, and that there are people out there who recognize that sacrifice by helping those like me get through college."
Jeremy Rothwell, another recipient of Washington College's Hodson scholarship, said the lure of having $40,000 in tuition costs covered by the scholarship brought him back to campus for his final year in the college's political science and history programs in 2007.
"One of the only reasons I stayed was that they offered to pay for everything," said Rothwell, 24, a medic in the National Guard who grew up in Cecil County and now lives in Chestertown. "Obviously, I was very pleased with the opportunity."
The University of Maryland College Park, the state's flagship campus, has eight scholarships available for active military personnel and their dependents. Some scholarships offer $1,000 to military members, such as the Robert E. Evasick Memorial Scholarship or the Paul E. and Jane F. Butler Scholarship Fund.
Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, a University of Maryland spokeswoman, said the university has eight of the country's 52 recipients of the Pat Tillman Military Scholars program, established for the former NFL player who joined the Army Rangers after Sept. 11, 2001 and was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. The program covers varying tuition costs for veterans and active-duty military according to their financial needs, Guenzler-Stevens said.
Most military scholarships on Maryland campuses are available to servicemen and women in every branch, but some scholarships are made available to veterans of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The University of Maryland University College's Military Veteran Scholarship Fund, for example, seeks those who have served in the current battlefields, but remains open to other veterans and active duty personnel, according to the school's financial aid Web site.
UMUC's Blewitt Endowed Military Scholarship assists active-duty single parents and their children, along with military members who have been wounded in the war on terror. Other scholarship programs, like UMUC's President Gerald A. Heeger Tribute Scholarship, provide tuition costs for military members who have received a Purple Heart since Aug. 1, 2000.
Rothwell and Grigg said Washington College's financial aid officials helped them through the scholarship application process - a critical step in connecting servicemen and women with the various scholarships designated specifically for them.
"It meant incredibly more than I could have imagined, as I do not think I would have been able to go back to college without it," Grigg said of the Hodson scholarship. "Financially, I could not have afforded to go back to college unless I took a loan out."
Grigg was one of three veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive Washington College's first Hodson Trust Star Scholarships, a program that pays for military servicemen and women's higher education on four campuses - Washington, Johns Hopkins University, Hood College in Frederick and St. John's College in Annapolis. The program was launched in 2007.
While the Hodson scholarships cover all educational expenses - including classes, books, student fees, and room and board - there are a host of military-specific scholarships that offer some relief from tuition prices that can require substantial student loans over a four-year education. Some are available to all military members, while others target service members that fit specific criteria, such as single parents, Purple Heart recipients and wounded veterans.
"It is an extreme relief knowing that I'm beginning my job hunt without having that debt looming over my head," said Grigg, 25, a Shady Side, Md., resident who served an 18-month tour in Iraq that ended in April 2007. "A lot of my friends have that debt, and they're already feeling the effects of it. In one sense I feel kind of bad because I don't have to go through that. But on the other hand, I know that I've been through something that most people will never get to experience, and that there are people out there who recognize that sacrifice by helping those like me get through college."
Jeremy Rothwell, another recipient of Washington College's Hodson scholarship, said the lure of having $40,000 in tuition costs covered by the scholarship brought him back to campus for his final year in the college's political science and history programs in 2007.
"One of the only reasons I stayed was that they offered to pay for everything," said Rothwell, 24, a medic in the National Guard who grew up in Cecil County and now lives in Chestertown. "Obviously, I was very pleased with the opportunity."
The University of Maryland College Park, the state's flagship campus, has eight scholarships available for active military personnel and their dependents. Some scholarships offer $1,000 to military members, such as the Robert E. Evasick Memorial Scholarship or the Paul E. and Jane F. Butler Scholarship Fund.
Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, a University of Maryland spokeswoman, said the university has eight of the country's 52 recipients of the Pat Tillman Military Scholars program, established for the former NFL player who joined the Army Rangers after Sept. 11, 2001 and was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. The program covers varying tuition costs for veterans and active-duty military according to their financial needs, Guenzler-Stevens said.
Most military scholarships on Maryland campuses are available to servicemen and women in every branch, but some scholarships are made available to veterans of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The University of Maryland University College's Military Veteran Scholarship Fund, for example, seeks those who have served in the current battlefields, but remains open to other veterans and active duty personnel, according to the school's financial aid Web site.
UMUC's Blewitt Endowed Military Scholarship assists active-duty single parents and their children, along with military members who have been wounded in the war on terror. Other scholarship programs, like UMUC's President Gerald A. Heeger Tribute Scholarship, provide tuition costs for military members who have received a Purple Heart since Aug. 1, 2000.
Rothwell and Grigg said Washington College's financial aid officials helped them through the scholarship application process - a critical step in connecting servicemen and women with the various scholarships designated specifically for them.
"It meant incredibly more than I could have imagined, as I do not think I would have been able to go back to college without it," Grigg said of the Hodson scholarship. "Financially, I could not have afforded to go back to college unless I took a loan out."