How Scholarships Support Patients & Families Living With Chronic Illness

Among the many barriers that stand between students and their college goals, medical costs can be some of the hardest to overcome. And this is especially true for students and families dealing with long-term and chronic conditions—years or even decades of ongoing healthcare bills can make paying for tuition seem like an impossibility.

Fortunately, there’s a growing recognition within the healthcare industry that patient support can extend well beyond the clinic. Medical, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, along with health-focused nonprofits, are working to provide support. that help families get back to normal, and those support programs increasingly include scholarships.

Education Support for Patient Communities

Scholarship America is privileged to administer several programs designed to support patient communities——including the Vertex Foundation Scholarship Program for families and caregivers living with cystic fibrosis (CF).

The Vertex Foundation is on a mission to improve the lives of people affected by serious diseases. In 2022, the foundation began working with Scholarship America, and each year the program distributes $5,000 awards to approximately 90 students impacted by CF, helping them focus more on their education. More than $3.5 million in scholarships have been awarded to the CF community since the program was established in 2017.

“The Vertex Foundation is proud to help advance the educational goals of people impacted by CF and their immediate family members as the impact of cystic fibrosis extends beyond the individual to their entire family,” said Melodie Knowlton, Executive Director, The Vertex Foundation.

Scholarship America has also worked with Northwestern Mutual since 2017, awarding more than 320 scholarships to childhood cancer survivors as well as siblings of those affected by childhood cancer. To date, Northwestern Mutual’s Childhood Cancer Survivor and Childhood Cancer Sibling programs have provided more than $2.6 million to help students afford their college goals.

So far, this program has distributed $2.6 million to help lessen the financial strain of college for families that have endured a cancer diagnosis.

“I received the Northwestern Mutual Scholarship on my one-year cancer-free anniversary day,” says survivor and scholarship recipient Kendra Koepp in this video. “The scholarship meant a lot because it opened up so many new doors for me, education-wise. Switching to nursing school was the best idea I ever had.”

We’re immensely proud to work with sponsors like the Vertex Foundation and Northwestern Mutual to help remarkable students like Kendra. And that’s only the beginning—Scholarship America administers patient-community programs for sponsors as diverse as:

• AbbVie, which provides scholarships for students with inflammatory diseases
• Wells Fargo, whose Stacey Milbern Scholarship Program is open to students living with physical or intellectual disabilities
• Microsoft, where Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) sponsor awards for the families of Microsoft employees with visual, hearing, mobility, cognitive, and/or speech disabilities
• The EveryLife Foundation, which provides the Paula Kovarick Segalman Scholarships to patients and families impacted by ALS, and the #RAREis Scholarship for those living with any form of rare disease

Building Partnerships for Brighter Futures

Each of these programs is as unique as the patient community it serves—but all of them rely on Scholarship America’s expertise in end-to-end program fulfillment to make the maximum impact.

As the nation’s leading nonprofit scholarship administrator, Scholarship America handles the administrative tasks that keep scholarships running efficiently and in compliance with complex regulations.

Your company or foundation can turn to us for:

• Scholarship Administration Services: We handle everything from design to fund disbursement and renewals, ensuring you can focus on your core business rather than applicant questions and scholarship evaluation.
• Security, Compliance and Peace of Mind: Scholarship America programs are all designed to be compliant with IRS regulations around scholarships, and we are diligent stewards of students’ and families’ sensitive data.
• Scholarship Promotion & Student Matching: Leveraging our global outreach capabilities, high-traffic promotional channels, and custom web and social media content, we can reach the patient communities you want to help.
• Amplified Student Opportunities: After applying for your program, students will be exposed to hundreds of additional scholarship programs and may apply for more funds to further support their journey.

Scholarship America’s program sponsors are empowered to be as hands-on or as hands-off as you want to be, and we’re ready to work with you to ensure patients and families planning on college have one less thing to worry about. If you’re ready to talk, click below to get in touch.