Brave of Heart Scholarship
The Brave of Heart Scholarship supports the children (age 26 and under), spouses or domestic partners of frontline health care workers who lost their lives to COVID-related causes.
Brave of Heart Scholarship
The Brave of Heart Scholarship supports the children (age 26 and under), spouses or domestic partners of frontline health care workers who lost their lives to COVID-related causes.
The Brave of Heart Scholarship is not a competitive program; all eligible applicants will receive funds. Non-traditional students, students in study-abroad programs and individuals returning to college after time off are encouraged to apply, even if they do not have a recent GPA.
If you or your family member qualifies to apply but are not planning on attending school this academic year; please click Remind Me to pre-register and receive notifications about future application cycles. The Brave of Heart Scholarship anticipates making scholarship awards through the 2026-27 school year. Pre-registering does not guarantee funding will be available when the individual applies.
Students and families who qualify for the Brave of Heart Scholarship Program may also be eligible for Frontline Families Scholarships. Learn more here.
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarship and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor, and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.
About the Scholarship
The Brave of Heart Fund was founded in May 2020 by the Foundations of Cigna and New York Life and administered by E4E Relief. It was established to provide charitable grants and emotional support services to families of frontline healthcare workers, volunteers, and support staff whose lives were lost in the fight against COVID-19. The Brave of Heart Fund continues to honor the hard work and sacrifice of healthcare workers and their families via scholarship funding for their spouses, domestic partners, and children.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal residents who plan to enroll, full-time or part-time, in undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school in the upcoming academic year. Applicants must also have a GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent.
Applicants of the Brave of Heart Scholarship must:
- Be a child, spouse or domestic partner of a frontline healthcare worker who lost their life to a COVID-19-related cause.
-
- Child is defined as a biological, step- or legally adopted child who is age 26* and under as of the application deadline date. The child must be living in the frontline healthcare worker’s household or primarily supported by the frontline healthcare worker. If the child is enrolled in a graduate school program, they must be age 26 and under and may be financially dependent or independent to be eligible.
- The Brave of Heart Scholarships is available for children who first apply and receive an award by age 26. To continue receiving scholarship assistance beyond age 26, children must then continue to apply for the Brave of Heart Scholarship (uninterrupted) and maintain continuous enrollment in their program (uninterrupted), with the exception of summer vacation.
- Frontline healthcare worker is defined as a person who lived in the United States at the time of death and worked or volunteered in or for a licensed hospital, medical center or clinic, nursing home, medical transport vehicle, triage center, or other licensed medical facility, provider, or setting, or who worked or volunteered as an emergency medical technician, ambulance technician or paramedic. The individual must have had the possibility of exposure to patients with COVID-19 while working or volunteering
- Plan to enroll full-time or part-time in an undergraduate or graduate program (graduate program must have a patient-facing medical major). See Awards Tab for definition of full-time and part-time.
- Plan to attend an accredited vocational-technical school, two- or four-year college or university, or graduate school.
- Have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent. Non-traditional students are encouraged to apply, and will be considered even if they do not have a recent GPA.
- Be a United States (U.S.) citizen or legal resident living in and attending an educational institution in the U.S. or a U.S. territory.
- Study abroad programs may be eligible courses of study if run through an educational institution in the U.S. or a U.S. territory.
Ineligible occupations include non-medical frontline workers, such as supermarket employees, delivery workers, ride-share drivers, funeral home staff, and police. Firefighters are also ineligible unless certified EMTs or paramedics. Other occupations may be ineligible and are evaluated at the sole discretion of the sponsor.
Awards
The Brave of Heart Scholarship anticipates making scholarship awards through the 2026-27 school year.
The authorized distribution for new awards will be determined annually by the Brave of Heart Fund. The total distribution and individual award amounts may vary based on funds available.
- Awards are not renewable; students can reapply to the program each application cycle they meet the eligibility requirements.
- Applicants can receive the award a maximum of eight terms, for four academic years, or through the 2026-27 school year (whichever occurs first). Applicants lifetime award cannot exceed the maximum award amount (listed below).
- Graduate Degree applicants must have a patient-facing healthcare major, such as medical school, masters of science in nursing or master of health science in physician assistant studies.
- Full-time undergraduate is defined as minimum of 12 credit hours or equivalent and part-time undergraduate is defined as 6 or more credit hours or equivalent.
- Full-time graduate is defined as minimum of 9 credit hours or equivalent and part-time graduate is defined as at least two classes with a minimum of 4 credit hours or equivalent.
Full-time Students who demonstrate financial need may receive the lesser of the Average Cost of Attendance or the Award Amount based on degree type below.
Part-time Students who demonstrate financial need may receive the lesser of the Average Cost of Attendance or 50% of the Award Amount based on degree type below.
Undergraduate Degree: Non-Healthcare Major
-
- Award Amount
- Up to $15,000 per year or $7,500 per term
- Maximum
- $60,000
- Award Amount
Undergraduate Degree: Healthcare (or pre-med) Major
-
-
- Award Amount
- Up to $25,000 per year or $12,500 per term
- Maximum
- $100,000
- Award Amount
-
Graduate Degree: with Patient-facing Healthcare Major
-
- Award Amount
- Up to $50,000 per year or $25,000 per term
- Maximum
- $200,000
- Award Amount
Students who do not demonstrate financial need may receive a one-time honorarium of $5,000. Students who receive an honorarium may reapply if their financial situation changes.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship America will verify student eligibility, school and program, and calculate financial need. Determination of eligibility is at Scholarship America’s sole discretion.
The Brave of Heart Scholarship is not competitive. All eligible applicants will receive an award.
Notification
All applicants will be notified in November. Students may reapply to the program each application cycle they meet eligibility requirements.
Notifications are sent via email. When setting up your account, avoid using a school or work email. Instead, use an active, personal email address that you will continue to have access to.
Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address as safe senders in your email contact list.
Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America will process scholarship payments on behalf of the Brave of Heart Fund. Payment is made in one installment in January. A check made out to the college or university will be mailed to the student’s address on file. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the scholarship check is deposited with the college or university.
Requirements
As part of your application, you are required to upload the following documents:
Please Note: If you are a prior recipient of the Brave of Heart Scholarship from Scholarship America you will only need to upload a 2024 IRS Tax Form 1040 (from surviving parent) and your most recent Transcript.
- Birth certificate, marriage certificate or proof of student relationship to deceased healthcare worker
- Proof of occupation of deceased healthcare worker
- Death certificate of deceased healthcare worker
- 2025 IRS Tax Form 1040 – Students who are claimed as dependents must supply their parent(s) tax form
- Most recent Transcript (2025) of student applying, if applicable
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
