The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s scholarship program is completely dependent on support from outside donors. There are currently five different programs, although an applicant only needs to complete one application.

The table below summarizes the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation scholarship programs.

This is a program made possible by a generous donation from the Motorola Solutions Foundation. The program provides for larger, and in certain cases, full scholarships on an academic year-by-academic year basis. In order to be eligible for an award under this program, the applicant must be pursuing a major in a STEM subject or public safety. Awards under this program are made on a year-by-year basis and will
be based on an assessment of financial need and academic performance using the composite scoring system described in #6 and #7 below.

The Alan Patrick Sondej Memorial Scholarship Fund continues to provide four-year scholarships that are awarded based on an assessment of financial need and academic performance, using the same composite scoring system (see #7 and #8 below). In order to be eligible for an award under this program, the applicant must be pursuing a major in a STEM subject. Additional details concerning awards made under the Al Sondej Fund are contained in the applicant’s award letter.

The Kenneth M. Hedrick Memorial Scholarship Fund provides four-year scholarships that are awarded based on an assessment of financial need and academic performance, using the same composite scoring system (see #7 and #8 below). In order to be eligible for an award under this program, the applicant must be pursuing a major in public safety. Additional details concerning awards made under the Kenneth M. Hedrick Fund are contained in the applicant’s award letter.

The Sander Cohen Memorial Scholarship Fund provides four-year scholarships that are a based on an assessment of financial need and academic performance, using the same composite scoring system (see #7 and #8 below). In order to be eligible for an award under this program, the applicant must be pursuing a major in public safety. Additional details concerning awards made under the Sander Cohen Memorial Scholarship Fund are contained in the applicant’s award letter.

The application period for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation scholarship program opens on January 1 and closes on March 1.

The award criteria for the NFFF scholarship programs are based upon a composite score. For more information on the Sarbanes Scholarship Program, the Motorola Solutions Foundation Enhanced Scholarship Initiative, the Alan Patrick Sondej Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Kenneth M. Hedrick Memorial Scholarship Fund, Sander Cohen Memorial Scholarship Fund, and our partner programs, see the links below.

The composite score is the tool that we will use to determine the relative size of the awards made under the general Sarbanes Scholarship Program, the Motorola Solutions Foundation Enhanced Scholarship Initiative, the Alan Patrick Sondej Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Kenneth M. Hedrick Memorial Scholarship Fund, and the Sander Cohen Memorial Scholarship Fund.

In determining awards under these programs, each applicant will be assigned a composite score representing the sum of that applicant’s financial need score and academic performance score.

Applicants with higher composite scores will receive scholarship awards that are enhanced relative to applicants with lower composite scores.

Spouses and life partners are automatically assigned the highest possible financial need score and need not submit financial information.

For all other applicants, financial need will be assessed based upon an evaluation of the applicant’s reported gross family income determined without regard to any firefighter pension or line of duty death benefits plus an evaluation of the applicant’s FAFSA® Student Aid Index which should be submitted in connection with the NFFF scholarship application form. No applicant needs to submit any financial information other than the FAFSA® Student Aid Index, although if an applicant wishes to provide additional information for consideration, she or he is welcome to do so.

Because spouses and life partners are automatically assigned the highest possible financial need score and need not submit financial information, these applications will not be affected by the lack of financial information.

Other applicants will continue to be eligible for a scholarship award, and will receive educational funding at some level, even if they do not submit financial information. Applicants should note, however, that scholarship awards vary based on a composite score that represents the sum of an applicant’s financial need score and academic performance score. Because the composite score assigns more weight to the financial need score than the academic performance score, applicants who do not submit financial information will have lower composite scores than applicants who do submit financial information. A lower composite score may lead to a lower scholarship award than would otherwise have been the case.

Spouses and life partners are automatically assigned a top tier score on academic performance.

For all other applicants, academic performance will be assessed based on an evaluation of factors, including: (i) whether the student is pursuing a major in either public safety or a STEM subject in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; (ii) the nature of the student’s course load and the student’s most current GPA as provided on the most current academic transcript submitted with the application; and (iii) the student’s tuition load relative to the anticipated employment prospects of the chosen major.

No. We award funds under the Sarbanes Scholarship Program for any undergraduate or graduate studies, a certification program, or job skills training at an accredited institution, online college, or university

In certain cases, the status of a course of study as STEM or public safety will be obvious. For example, majors such as physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, engineering, computer science, environmental science, and agricultural science are clearly STEM majors. Likewise, majors such as criminal justice, public safety administration, public safety and security, and emergency management are clearly public safety majors.

In situations where the status of a course of study is less clear cut, we will analyze the core curriculum and graduation requirements to determine whether or not the applicant’s proposed course of study qualifies as either STEM or public safety.

We are happy to let you know in advance whether we will consider your proposed course of study to be STEM or public safety. Please direct all inquiries to Eric Nagle at enagle@firehero.org.