SERVE Scholarships

SERVE: Veterans & First Responders Scholarship Application process for 2026. 

The SERVE: Veterans & First Responders Scholarship Program awards scholarships to individuals who have positively impact the Veteran, family of Veterans, Public Safety, and/or family of Public Safety communities. Applicants must be attending/enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program of higher education institution. 

By applying to this scholarship, you agree to provide proof of enrollment at a place of higher education for ’26-‘27 school year, and any other required documentation for verifications purposes in the event you are chosen as a winner.

All applicants need to provide up to date contact information as part of the process, our inability to contact you in a timely manner will forfeit any award.

In addition, you consent that your essay and/or answers to scholarship prompts can be verified through software to be truly authentic, unique, and not written with the aid of an AI system or algorithm. We reserve the right to use software verification of authenticity.

2026

Postive Impact

SERVE: Veterans & First Responders Scholarship

(Undergrad or Grad)

Prompt: How does your chosen field of study (e.g., healthcare, STEM, business, entrepreneurship, public relations, social work, counseling) equip you to serve veterans and/or public safety communities? Share one real experience that shaped your commitment and outline a clear plan for how you will apply your education to produce positive, practical results. (Length required 1,000-1,500 words)

How to Apply:

Please send the email to: [email protected]

Subject:  2026 SERVE: Veterans & First Responders Scholarship

The body of the email must contain the following:

  1. Name
  2. Email address where we can contact you during summer/fall 2026
  3. Phone Number
  4. School you will be enrolled in in ’26-‘27 school year
    1. Explicitly state either “Undergrad” or “Grad” (post-grad if applicable).
    2. What year in school (freshman, sophomore, etc. / or 1st year Graduate / Post-Grad).
    3.  Field of study that impacts the community, i.e healthcare, STEM, business, entrepreneurship, public relations, social work counseling.
  5. Confirm Word count 1,000 -1,500 (how many words is your essay?)
  6. Attached essay in Doc or Docx format (attached, not in body of email). Do not provide PDF or any other format.
  7. Attached documentation confirming 25+ community service/volunteer hours and most recent and up to date transcripts showing GPA

Deadline for entries

No applications will be accepted past 11:59p 5/30/2026 Central Time.

Rules

  1. Must be an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in a higher education institution.
  2. Entry is free and a student may only enter one time per year.
  3. The essay should be a minimum 1,000 words but no longer than 1,500 words in length, and must be in English
  4. Document should have 1” margins and be written in 12 Pt. Times New Roman, double-spaced formatting.
  5. Must be able to display a commitment to serving and positively impacting the Veteran, family of Veterans, Public Safety, and/or family of Public Safety community
  6. Must submit an essay of 1,000 words answering the writing prompt
  7. Those seeking to study in a field that impacts the community, i.e. healthcare, STEM, business, entrepreneurship, public relations, social work, counseling.
  8. Have 25+ hours of community service (preferably supporting Veterans and/or Public Safety needs)
  9. Must abide by all writing prompts
  10. GPA of 3.0 minimum
  11. No offensive, harassing, incendiary, or defaming content may be used. This includes but is not limited to recent cultural events that may cause panel members discomfort to grade and is decided at the discretion of SERVE: Veterans & First Responders Scholarship Committee Directors.

Methods of Judging

All eligible essays will be evaluated by a panel of SERVE: Veterans & First Responders members. The following criteria will be used:

  • Does the essay answer and address the topic prompt? (25 pts)
  • Originality (20 pts)
  • Grammar, Spelling, Errors (20 pts)
  • Creativity and depth of thought (20 pts)
  • Organization and Structure of essay (15 pts)

 The panel will determine the top winners based upon a scoring rubric.

Terms and Conditions: By submitting an entry to Scholarship Contest, the entrant automatically agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. Entrants attest that any entry submitted to the SERVE: Veterans & First Responders scholarship essay contest will be fully original and is one that has never been submitted, published anywhere else, or used to apply for any other scholarship(s). We reserve the right to subject every entry to a plagiarism-scan, in order to verify originality. Once an entry is submitted, entrant agrees that all ownership rights to that essay are transferred to SERVE: Veterans & First Responders and all copyright laws protect ownership by SERVE: Veterans & First Responders. Entrant understands and agrees that s/he may not reproduce, transfer, share, republish, or otherwise use or distribute the entry essay in any way, without express written permission. Entrant agrees that the organization may use his/her name in publishing the contest entrants and/or winners. SERVE: Veterans & First Responders shall protect all other personal information of every contestant and shall not provide personal information to any third party. Entrant’s personal information is used for the express purpose of verification and is deleted afterward money is distributed.