Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 04, 2026 • US Financial Aid & Scholarships
National scholarships for students with disabilities range from about $1,000 to $10,000 total, separate from campus accommodations, which are a legal right your college must provide at no extra cost. Apply for scholarships and register with your college's disability services office as two separate steps, since one does not replace or reduce the other.
💵 disABLEDperson National Scholarship: $2,000, open to high school seniors through graduate students
💵 Anne Ford Scholarship (learning disabilities, 4-year college): $10,000 total over four years
💵 Allegra Ford Thomas Scholarship (learning disabilities, community/technical college): $5,000 total over two years
📩 Campus accommodations (extended time, note-takers, accessible housing) are free under federal disability law, not funded by scholarships
National scholarships for students with disabilities
A number of national organizations run scholarships specifically for students with documented disabilities, funded independently of financial need and separate from any accommodations your college provides. Award amounts are generally smaller than large need-based or merit scholarships, but competition is also lighter since fewer students search specifically in this category.
| Scholarship | Award | Who it targets |
|---|---|---|
| disABLEDperson National Scholarship | $2,000 | Full-time college students with any disability, high school seniors through graduate students |
| Anne Ford Scholarship (National Center for Learning Disabilities) | $10,000 total, $2,500 a year for four years | High school seniors with a documented learning disability entering a four-year bachelor's program |
| Allegra Ford Thomas Scholarship (National Center for Learning Disabilities) | $5,000 total, $2,500 a year for two years | High school seniors with a documented learning disability entering community college or vocational/technical training |
The National Center for Learning Disabilities runs both the Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Thomas scholarships, and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so apply as early in the cycle as you can rather than waiting for a hard deadline. The disABLEDperson scholarship runs multiple competitions across the year, so check the organization's site for the current registration window before you apply.
Where to search for more
Beyond these named national awards, look in three additional directions.
The HEATH Resource Center at George Washington University, a long-running clearinghouse that compiles financial aid and scholarship resources specifically for students with disabilities.
Disability-specific organizations tied to your particular condition, such as national associations for hearing loss, vision loss, mobility disabilities, or chronic illness, many of which run their own scholarship funds separate from general disability scholarships.
Your target college's disability services office, which sometimes administers small institutional scholarship or emergency funds for students registered with that office, on top of general university financial aid.
Scholarships and accommodations are two separate systems
Scholarship money and campus accommodations do not overlap, and mixing them up can cost you support you are entitled to for free. Accommodations, extended test time, note-taking support, accessible housing, sign language interpreters, adaptive technology, and similar services, are a legal right under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Colleges must provide reasonable accommodations to students with a documented disability at no additional cost, regardless of whether that student receives a scholarship.
Getting accommodations requires registering directly with your college's disability services office (sometimes called Disability Support Services or an Office of Accessibility), which is a separate process from financial aid or scholarship applications. You typically need current documentation of your disability, often from a doctor, psychologist, or other qualified evaluator, submitted directly to that office. Start this process before your first semester, since evaluating documentation and setting up accommodations can take weeks.
Winning a disability-specific scholarship does not automatically register you for accommodations, and registering for accommodations does not affect your eligibility for disability scholarships. Treat them as two separate to-do items during your college transition, not one combined process.
Financial aid and disability-related costs
Standard financial aid, including the FAFSA, does not ask about disability status and does not adjust your aid package based on it. If a disability creates extra costs, adaptive equipment, personal care attendants, or specialized software, some colleges allow you to document these through your financial aid office for a professional judgment adjustment to your aid package. Ask your college's financial aid office directly whether they handle disability-related cost adjustments, since the process is not standardized across schools and is not automatic.
Application tips specific to disability scholarships
Most disability scholarships ask for documentation of your disability from a qualified professional, alongside the standard transcript, recommendation letters, and essay. Request this documentation early, since doctors and evaluators can take weeks to produce a formal letter, and a missing document is one of the most common reasons an otherwise strong application gets disqualified. Many of these scholarships also ask you to write specifically about how your disability has shaped your academic or personal path, so prepare a genuine, specific answer rather than a generic essay adapted from other applications.