Special Ed Student Scholarship Programs

Special Education teachers are often in high demand—there are too few to meet most state needs, particularly in the public school systems. For this reason you can bank on many scholarships coming in the form of “critical shortage” scholarships.

Critical shortages in teacher terms usually pertain to geographic location or subject area. Common subject shortages include special education, as well as the STEM subjects and sometimes foreign languages.

Special Education teachers also often specialize, particularly at the graduate level. You might teach deaf or hard of hearing students, those with mobility issues, or those with visual problems. Other specialties include autism, Downs Syndrome and ADHD students.

State Scholarships

Many state governments offer scholarships for service or loan forgiveness opportunities to student teachers willing to stay and work as Special Education teachers in the state. These can be excellent ways to get your college education paid for, few questions asked.

  • In Indiana the Minority Teacher/Special Services Scholarship aims to put minority student teachers into state jobs or students studying to become special education teachers. Even better: minority students pursuing Special Education. These assistance scholarships offer up to $1,000 annually to qualified teaching students.
  • Washington State’s Future Teachers Conditional Scholarship is in place to provide financial leverage to state students seeking education and certification as special education teachers, among other critical shortage areas. Scholarships are up to $2,450 annually. Recipients must agree to teach Special Education in a Washington school following graduation.
  • The Future Teachers of North Carolina Scholarship program awards eligible recipients up to $6,500 annually so they can pay for their teaching degree. In exchange recipients must agree to teach within a NC school in their subject of specialty—in this case, Special Education, also a critical shortage area in the state. Scholarship dollars are renewable for 2 years and the corresponding service is for 2 years as well.

Other Sources

The National Association of Special Education Teachers offers members a number of awards. Specifically for students the Outstanding Graduate Student Performance Award goes to exemplary grad level students as nominated by graduate schools.

The College of Education at San Francisco State University offers a formidable list of scholarships for Special Ed teachers. You’ll find scholarships specially designed for students pursuing graduate school, those specializing in particular types of special education instruction, specializing in teaching severely handicapped and more.

These are just examples of the various types of Special Education scholarships available to student Education majors.