Description of the Scholarship Award
The Sue Cantrell Scholarship Program awards financial assistance to spouses, children, and grandchildren of BVA members to assist them with their higher education tuition. Four $2,500 scholarships will be awarded in 2026-27.
Eligibility and Qualifications
Applicants must be accepted to an accredited institution of higher education or business, secretarial, or vocational training school. The Cantrell Scholarships are awarded based on merit through an application process evaluated by a committee. The scholarships for veterans’ dependents are for one year only, but recipients can reapply and receive the award up to four times.
Scholarship Deadlines
- Applications are due on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 11:59pm Eastern Time (late applications will not be accepted).
- Recipients will be contacted by June 15, 2026.
Application and Required Documents for Submission
- A Completed Application
- Incomplete applications will not be accepted. It is the responsibility of the applicant (not BVA) to ensure a completed application.
- Transcripts
- If applicants have attended an institution of higher education (or several of them), they must submit a transcript of record from each institution.
- If applicants have not attended an institution of higher education, they must submit a transcript of their high school record.
- If applicants have been to college for only one semester, they must submit their high school transcript in addition to their college transcript.
- Three Letters of Reference from the Current Calendar School Year
- One letter of academic reference related to academic achievements. This reference must be formalized using business or letterhead stationery from the affiliated organization. Letters of academic reference must be related to the school the applicant is attending or will be attending and must be no more than six months old.
- Two letters of personal reference in which the authors identify their relationship with the applicants.
- All letters of reference must be typed and signed.
- Letters must be addressed to the Blinded Veterans Association.
- Letters of reference used for previous scholarship applications are not accepted.
- Letters of reference may not come from a family member.
- Merit of Career Goals/Personal Narrative
- Must be typed.
- Previous applicants must submit a new statement with each application.
- Applicants must describe in no more than 300 words their post-education, lifetime, specific career goals and aspirations (i.e., what they plan to do after completing their education), and outline their plans to pursue them.
- Additional Evidence of Achievement (optional)
- Applicants may submit other evidence of achievement in the academic and/or non-academic fields that they believe qualify them for a scholarship award.
- Evidence must be corroborated by documentation (i.e., a copy of a certificate documenting the award, a copy of a citation, etc.).
