College Grants for Disabled Students

Attending college is a costly exercise. There are tuition fees as well as extra costs for books, supplies, transport and other incidentals that might crop up along the way. Students with disabilities may also require special accommodations and this makes attending college even a greater financial burden. Financial aid may be the only solution for people wanting a higher education. Financial aid comes in many different forms including, grants, loans and scholarships and some of these grants are specifically available to disabled students.

Most people are not aware of the fact that there are thousands of dollars available to help disabled students attend college. There are disability grants available from both the federal government as well as private organizations. These grants are usually grouped according to the type of disability a person has.

Some of these grants include: The AG Bell Financial Aid and Scholarship program for students with hearing loss or deafness, the ACB Scholarship for the visually impaired, the National Chair Scholars Scholarship for the physically impaired and the Ann Ford and Allegra Ford Scholarship for students with learning disabilities. There are also scholarships available to students with health impairments e.g. the Pfizer Epilepsy Scholarship Award.
A person may also find grants specifically targeted for students pursuing a particular profession. Examples of these are scholarships that exist for disabled students wishing to pursue a career in nursing or music. In addition, disabled students who pursue a career of helping others with disabilities may find additional grants available to them.

Some states have agencies dedicated to assisting residents with disabilities. These agencies can advise disabled students on grants available to them. The US Department of Education has a list of grants and scholarships available for students with disabilities on their website www.studentaid2.ed.gov.

Disabled students can also obtain funding from traditional sources such as the federal Pell Grant. Pell Grants are open to all students but, disabled students should definitely consider this resource when looking for financial aid.

There are hundreds of different grants and scholarships available for students with disabilities. The difficult part is finding them. Most schools have a specialized department that takes care of the needs of these students. These departments usually have advisors that know what grants are available to students with disabilities. Disabled students, seeking college grants, should contact the school they are interested in attending and ask to speak to a student disability advisor.