Saturday, January 12, 2008

America Supports You: partnership gives spouses gift of education

Military spouses now have a larger scholarship pool to draw from, thanks to a new partnership between the National Military Family Association and the Fisher House Foundation.

The collaboration enables the NMFA to expand its Joanne Holbrook Patton Military Spouse Scholarship Program to many more deserving spouses, association officials said.

Joanne Holbrook Patton Military Spouse Scholarships are awarded to military spouses to
obtain professional certification or to attend post-secondary or graduate school. They normally range from $500 to $1,000 and may be used for tuition, fees and school room and board. Spouses of uniformed servicemembers, including active duty, National Guardsmen, reservists, retirees and survivors of any branch or rank can apply. Applications are accepted online at http://www.nmfa.org/scholarship through Feb. 29.

“Through our partnership with the Defense Commissary Agency, in seven years, we have been able to provide more than $5.5 million in scholarship grants to more than 3,500 military children,” said David A. Coker, president of the Fisher House Foundation. “We are partnering with the NMFA to be able to expand our grants to military spouses.”