Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation: No Student or Family Left Behind
by Leslie Parsons
It costs a lot of money to get a college education these days.
According to a recent report from the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of college in the United States is $36,436 per student per year. Over the past ten years, the cost of attending a 4-year public college or university has risen by just over $1,000, while the cost of attending a 4-year private college or university has increased by over $10,000. Students and their families are finding it harder and harder to pay for their education without outside assistance.
One organization that offers such assistance to children of Marine Corps servicemembers is the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation (MCSF), which is the country’s oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships to military children. Every year, MCSF honors the sacrifices made by Marines and their families by awarding scholarships to the children of Marines, former Marines, Navy Corpsmen, and Chaplains attached to Marine units. To be eligible for one of these scholarships, a student need only demonstrate financial need. The MCSF operates on the principle of “No student or family left behind.”
Many of the students who receive MCSF scholarships share their parents’ desire to serve others, though not necessarily in the military. Simona Richard, the daughter of two Marines, currently attends Howard University thanks to an MCSF scholarship. After graduation, she intends to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, then a pediatric doctor. Daniel Mirando, the inaugural recipient of the MCSF’s Roberto Clemente Scholarship, attends the University of Maryland-College Park and plans to become a journalist after graduation. His goal is to uplift cultural voices and to advocate for representation in literature.
Since 1962, the MCSF has been helping students and families turn their educational hopes and dreams into a reality. Nearly 50% of scholarship recipients are first-generation college students. Michael Sanchez, the son of a Marine and a Marine veteran himself, attends Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He says,“…even with work-study pay and GI Bill benefits, I am still in need of aid to cover the high price of living. If not for the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, I would most definitely need to take out student loans or seek out other avenues of employment in order to pay for my schooling.”
This year, the MCSF awarded $10.8 million in scholarships to 2,758 students. This is the largest number of scholarships and the highest total dollar amount for those awards in the organization’s history. Scholarship recipients come from all 50 states and 18 overseas territories. Most impressively, 91% of MCSF scholarship recipients are expected to graduate and 67% will do so with little to no debt.
MCSF was recently featured in a July 4th “Good Morning America” segment that was devoted to the meaningful work being done within the organization .
The True North Foundation, founded by former Marine Corps Infantry Officer Greg Parsons, is proud to support the MCSF’s mission to relieve the financial burden of students from Marine Corps families who are in pursuit of a higher education. To learn more about MCSF and our other nonprofit partners, be sure to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter here.