Scholarships for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Florida students with hearing loss can apply for national scholarships from Sertoma, Cochlear, the Zazove Foundation and others. Every program below was checked against the sponsor's own page, with amount, deadline window and a link to apply.
Where to start
There is no single Florida scholarship for deaf and hard of hearing students, and Florida Bright Futures is a merit program open to everyone rather than a disability award. What exists is a set of national scholarships that Florida students apply to on the same footing as anyone else, plus institutional aid at the two colleges built for deaf students.
Most deadlines fall between January and the end of March, with Cochlear's running through September and the TPA Hearing Trust reviewing applications every quarter. Nearly all of them ask for an audiogram, so request a copy from your audiologist now.
Scholarships for hard of hearing students in Florida
Florida's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation can also fund training and college costs tied to an employment goal for eligible students with hearing loss, and Florida's public universities and colleges each have disability resource offices that know of local awards. Ask your school's financial aid office specifically about scholarships for students with disabilities.
National scholarships for deaf and hard of hearing students
Verified against each sponsor's website. Amounts and dates change; confirm on the sponsor's page before you apply.
Sertoma Scholarship for the Hard of Hearing or Deaf
Sertoma
- Amount
- Amount set each cycle; Sertoma has run the program since 1994
- Deadline
- Application period November 1 to March 31 each year
- Who can apply
- U.S. citizen with a minimum 40 dB bilateral hearing loss shown on an audiogram, high school senior or undergraduate pursuing a four-year bachelor's degree, minimum 3.2 unweighted GPA.
Graeme Clark Scholarship
Cochlear Americas
- Amount
- $2,000 per academic year for up to four consecutive years
- Deadline
- Opens about March 31, closes September 30; winners notified by January 31
- Who can apply
- Cochlear Nucleus implant recipients who are U.S. or Canadian citizens, graduated high school seniors or current college or graduate students, minimum 3.0 unweighted GPA.
Anders Tjellström Scholarship
Cochlear Americas
- Amount
- $2,000 per academic year for up to four consecutive years
- Deadline
- Opens about March 31, closes September 30; winners notified by January 31
- Who can apply
- Cochlear Baha or Osia recipients who are U.S. or Canadian citizens, with the same academic requirements as the Graeme Clark Scholarship. Cochlear also offers a vocational scholarship of $2,000 a year for up to two years for recipients attending technical, vocational or trade school.
Louise Tumarkin Zazove Foundation Scholarship
Louise Tumarkin Zazove Foundation
- Amount
- Amount not stated on the application page; awards are for undergraduate study
- Deadline
- Applications open early January and close late May; decisions by mid-July
- Who can apply
- U.S. citizens or permanent residents with at least a 50 dB unaided hearing loss in both ears, attending an accredited nonprofit college in the United States as an undergraduate. High school and graduate students are not eligible.
Louise Tumarkin Zazove Foundation: scholarship details and application
TPA Hearing Trust (Scholarship Trust for the Hearing Impaired)
Travelers Protective Association of America
- Amount
- Grants sized to need; more than $2.4 million awarded to about 6,100 recipients since 1975
- Deadline
- Applications reviewed monthly, decisions quarterly; one award per person per year
- Who can apply
- People with deafness or hearing loss of any age who need help paying for hearing devices, specialized treatment, speech classes, note-takers, interpreters or tuition for courses of study related to hearing support. Financial need is given special consideration.
Travelers Protective Association of America: scholarship details and application
Help America Hear Scholarship
Help America Hear
- Amount
- Ten awards a year: eight for hearing aid users, who also receive a pair of prescription hearing aids, and two for cochlear implant or bone-anchored device users
- Deadline
- Late March (the most recent published deadline was March 30)
- Who can apply
- High school seniors with hearing loss. Entry is an essay on creativity, academic achievement, community service and life with hearing loss.
George H. Nofer Scholarship for Law
AG Bell (Alexander Graham Bell Association)
- Amount
- $5,000 a year for up to three full-time law students
- Deadline
- Check the AG Bell financial aid page for the current cycle
- Who can apply
- Graduate students at an accredited law school with a bilateral hearing loss in the moderately severe to profound range who use listening and spoken language. AG Bell also funds parent-infant, preschool, school-age and arts and sciences awards for younger children.
AG Bell (Alexander Graham Bell Association): scholarship details and application
Colleges with aid built in for deaf and hard of hearing students
Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.
Every newly admitted deaf or hard of hearing undergraduate is automatically considered for merit scholarships, awarded for up to four years for freshmen and three for transfers, on top of federal aid, endowed scholarships and state vocational rehabilitation support.
Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.: tuition and financial aid
RIT / National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester, N.Y.
Because NTID receives federal support, deaf and hard of hearing students in any RIT undergraduate program pay less than half of RIT's regular tuition. NTID scholarships are awarded automatically from GPA and departmental nominations, with no separate application.
RIT / National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester, N.Y.: tuition and financial aid
Scholarships you may see listed elsewhere
Several programs that still appear on scholarship directories could not be confirmed on the sponsor's own site when we checked, so we have left them out: the AG Bell College Scholarship (AG Bell's financial aid page currently lists only the law scholarship and awards for younger children), the NAD William C. Stokoe Scholarship (described by NAD as no longer available), the Minnie Pearl Scholarship (not listed on the Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing site), and student scholarships from Advanced Bionics and MED-EL in the United States. If you find one of these is open again, tell us and we will add it.
How to apply well
- Get your audiogram now. Sertoma, Zazove and most others require one, and audiology offices can take a few weeks to send records.
- Ask two people for references early: a teacher who knows your work and someone who knows your hearing loss journey.
- Write one honest essay about living with hearing loss and reuse it, adjusted to each prompt.
- Apply to everything you qualify for. The pools are small, and many awards go to a few dozen applicants nationwide.
- Tell your school's disability office you are applying; they often know of local awards that never appear online.
Deaf and hard of hearing scholarship questions
Are there scholarships for hard of hearing students in Florida?
Yes, though most are national programs Florida students apply to on equal terms: Sertoma, Cochlear's Graeme Clark and Anders Tjellström scholarships, the Zazove Foundation, the TPA Hearing Trust and Help America Hear. Within Florida, Vocational Rehabilitation can fund education tied to a job goal. Bright Futures is open to all students and is not disability-specific.
When are deaf scholarship deadlines?
Most fall in the first quarter of the year. Sertoma accepts applications November 1 to March 31, Help America Hear closes in late March, and the Zazove Foundation runs from early January to late May. Cochlear's scholarships open around March 31 and close September 30. The TPA Hearing Trust reviews applications monthly with decisions each quarter. Start gathering your audiogram and references in the fall.
Do I need a certain degree of hearing loss to qualify?
Usually, and each program sets its own line. Sertoma requires at least a 40 dB bilateral loss on an audiogram, the Zazove Foundation at least 50 dB unaided in both ears, AG Bell a moderately severe to profound bilateral loss, and Cochlear's awards are for recipients of its own implants. Help America Hear is open to any high school senior with hearing loss. Read the eligibility line before you invest time in an essay.
Can adults or graduate students apply?
Some programs, yes. Cochlear's scholarships accept graduate students, the TPA Hearing Trust helps people of any age with hearing-related education and equipment costs, and AG Bell's Nofer scholarship is for law students. Sertoma and the Zazove Foundation are for undergraduates only, and Help America Hear is for high school seniors.
Know a scholarship we missed?
Tell us about a Florida or national award for students with hearing loss and we will verify it and add it to this page.