The Veterans of Foreign Wars has announced 172 student veterans have been chosen as 2018 fall semester recipients of the VFW’s Sport Clips Help a Hero Scholarships. Together, these student veterans will receive nearly $790,000 in college scholarships.

The sad part of this story is that not one student veteran from South Dakota was awarded a scholarship. The reason for this is that probably no one applied. Scholarships are awarded in amounts up to $5,000 per student per semester. That can go a long way toward paying tuition, books and other costs.

Scholarships are awarded to qualified applicants. Applications for the spring semester will be accepted from August 1 through November 15 and for the fall semester from January 1 to April 30. The scholarship must be used by the end of the school semester for which the veteran is applying and are restricted to the use for tuition and fees only and will be paid directly to accredited schools.

Applicants must be a US citizen and be retired, honorably discharged, on active duty or a member of the National guard or Reserve. They must hold military rank of E-5 or below and demonstrate a need for financial assistance. They must also be accepted to or currently enrolled in a VA-approved program or school.

The scholarship application is only available on-line at www.vfw.org and must also be submitted on-line using the form at the VFW website. Applications submitted by mail, email and fax will not be accepted. Go to the VFW website and login if you have established an account, if not you will need to establish one. Go to MY VFW then scroll down to Member Resources. Click on VFW Training and Support and scroll down to Veterans and Military Support. Click on VFW’s “Sports Clips Help a Hero Scholarship”. There will be a program overview and a helpful Frequently Asked Questions guide and a link to the application.

This is a great opportunity for our young veterans and National Guard members who are attending college. If you know any veteran or National Guard college students, encourage them to apply and spread the word among your family and friends. Remember, it’s still not too late to apply for the spring semester!

If you have questions you may contact County Veterans Service Officer Jerry Seiner at 605-487-7691 or 605-481-1338.