The Heroes' Legacy Scholarship came prior to taking the oath of office as President, Barack Obama wrote a children's book, titled "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters." The President chose to donate his after-tax proceeds to Fisher House Foundation specifically to establish a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled service members.

The online application for the 2024-2025 Academic year will open on December 14, 2023. Applications must be complete and submitted by February 14, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PST. 

Applicants must:

• Be enrolled or plan to enroll, in a full-time undergraduate program of study leading to a bachelor’s degree, at an accredited U.S. college or university
• Have a minimum cumulative unweighted grade point average of 2.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) for college applicants. High school applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale)
• Be under age 23
• Be a dependent, unmarried child of active-duty personnel, Reserve Component members, the National Guard or retired military members
• Be a child with one parent who died while serving on active duty on or after September 11, 2001, in any branch or component of the U. S. Armed Forces, or
• Be a child with one parent who became disabled while serving on active duty on or after September 11, 2001 (which means the parent qualified to receive Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (TSGLI)) or be a child with one parent who was on active duty on or after September 11, 2001, and received a permanent and total compensation rating of 100% from the Department of Defense (DoD) or the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Possess a valid (not expired) U.S. Uniformed Services Identification Card and Privilege Card or a DoD dependent ID

The amount to be awarded each year depends on the amount of royalties, up to $5,000, sponsorships and other donations designated for this program. The funds are used for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and school room and board either on or off campus. Excepting extremely unusual circumstances, the awards cannot be deferred for future use.

The Application Process:
An application to the Heroes' Legacy Scholarship Program is submitted online. To get started, create an account with your email address and a password (8 characters or longer with at least one number and one special character).

You will need the following:

• Transcript or copy of your grades

• Documents that verify the death, eligibility to receive Traumatic Service members Group Life Insurance (TSGLI), or disability of the sponsor.

• The DD214 or DD1300 that shows the sponsor's dates of service

• Re-applicants: The letter from Scholarship Managers provides a 9-digit code. This code allows you to skip re-submitting the DD214 or DD1300 forms; however, you will still need to create a new user account and application.

Questions concerning the application, transcripts, grade point averages, and similar subjects should be addressed to Scholarship Managers by sending an email to: legacyscholar@scholarshipmanagers.com.

You may apply for both scholarship programs, The Heroes' Legacy Scholarships and Scholarships for Military Children programs, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria for each one.

The Selection Process:
Recipients are selected based on the following criteria:

• Academic achievement

• Participation in school, community and volunteer activities

• Work experience

• An Essay

Questions concerning eligibility to apply, special circumstances that might preclude having a parent sign the application, or a request to submit the application by email rather than mail, and other similar subjects should be addressed to Fisher House Foundation by sending an email to: bgawne@fisherhouse.org.

Include "Heroes' Legacy Scholarships" in the subject line.

If you are having technical difficulties using the online application system, creating an account or logging in, send an email to: support@militaryscholar.org.

* This program is independently administered by Scholarship Managers (SM), a nonprofit scholarship service organization which has no connection to Fisher House Foundation.

For more information, please visit the Heroes' Legacy Scholarship webpage maintained The Fisher House Foundation:
https://fisherhouse.org/programs/scholarship-programs/heroes-legacy-scholarship/