Through the Looking Glass and its National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families are pleased to announce new scholarships specifically for high school seniors or college students who have parents with disabilities. A total of fifteen $1000 scholarships will be given out Fall 2012.

These scholarships are part of Through the Looking Glass’ National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families. There are separate eligibility requirements for high school seniors and for college students:

1. High School Seniors. To be eligible, a student must be a high school graduate (or graduating senior) by Summer 2012, planning to attend a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2012 in pursuit of an AA, BA or BS degree, and have at least one parent with a disability.

2. College Students. To be eligible, a student must be currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2012 in pursuit of an AA, BA or BS degree, be 21 years of age or younger as of March 5, 2012, and have at least one parent with a disability.

All application materials must be postmarked by March 5, 2012. Individuals may submit only one application per award period. Also see Scholarships: Frequently Asked Questions

Selection criteria for all scholarships include academic performance, community activities and service, letter of recommendation and an essay describing the experience of growing up with a parent with a disability.

Five of the fifteen 2012 scholarships will also consider extreme financial hardship (poverty level) in addition to the above criteria. Please read the Financial Need section on the Application Form if you wish to be considered for one of the five scholarships that also consider financial need.

These Scholarships are also part of a research study on young adult children of parents with disabilities.  As explained in the Consent Form below, you may be willing to participate in an optional survey about young adult children of parents with disabilities. The additional information you submit on this survey will not affect your scholarship chances and will not be disclosed to anyone outside the project researchers; all identifying information will be removed.  If you consent to participate in this optional survey, we will email you the survey after we have received your completed application. Thus far, over 1,000 students have taken this confidential survey. Please consider contributing to this important national study as your responses will really help us out!

If you have previously applied for this scholarship and still meet eligibility requirements, you may apply for the 2012 scholarships. Please note that you must complete the new 2012 application form. Also, although we will accept previously submitted essays, we encourage everyone to submit original essays.

Download Application Procedures and Application Form (PDF)