by Jaime Rodriguez, RDPFS Intern
Recently we chronicled potential internship opportunities for students with vision loss. This week, we are doing the same with scholarship opportunities. Here are two of the leading opportunities available for students with vision loss for this academic year.
Lighthouse Guild offers scholarships for students who are legally blind, including ten for first-time college-bound students, and one to three Graduate School Scholarships for college students already attending or planning to attend graduate school. To be eligible, students must attend or plan to attend a college that is accredited by a body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and is non-denominational. Applicants need to supply proof of legal blindness, with verification from a state rehabilitation agency or a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist, proof of U.S. citizenship or legal residency, copies of college transcripts and/or copies of SAT and/or ACT results, as well as three letters of recommendation and a 500-word personal statement describing their personal and educational goals. Each scholarship awards the student $10,000 and the deadline for applications is March 31, 2022. If you would like to apply for the Lighthouse Guild College Bound Scholarship, click here. For the Graduate School Scholarship, you may apply here. For more information, visit the Lighthouse Guild Scholarships page, here. You may also call (212)769-7801 or email the Lighthouse Guild, here.
Another scholarship opportunity, from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), offers 30 merit-based scholarships of $8,000 for students who are legally blind and are pursuing or planning to pursue a full-time, post-secondary course of study in a degree program at a U.S. institution in the fall of the year of application. To be eligible, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, at least 18 years of age by July 5, 2022, and agree to participate in the NFB National Convention and in all of its scheduled scholarship program activities (finalists will receive assistance to attend the national convention). The deadline for applications is March 31, 2022. If you would like to apply, go to the NFB website listing for the NFB Scholarship Program. For more information, you may read the “Scholarship Program FAQs,” here. You may also call (410)659-9314, extension 2415, or email the National Federation of the Blind, here.
For additional scholarship listings, check out Lighthouse Guild’s “Scholarship Comparison Chart,” here. For more scholarship opportunity spotlights, see future issues of the Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight Bulletin. Good luck and happy hunting!
