State Scholarships for DE Residents

The Delaware Higher Education Office administers seven state-sponsored scholarships. To apply for the DHEO scholarships, a student will create a DHEO Student Account in the Delaware Higher Education Financial Aid Portal to access the online application for any of the seven scholarships. In addition to the online application, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is required for many of the state’s need-based programs and scholarships.

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ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS

Merit-based awards for high school seniors

B. Bradford Barnes Memorial Scholarship 

In honor of the former Speaker of the state House of Representatives

Application Opens: December 1, 2023
Application Requirements: The online application will request the student’s anticipated enrollment information for 2024-2025 (institution and major) and a list of student activities. Student’s academic records (GPA/SAT) will be collected during the review.
Deadline: Submit the scholarship application by 4:30 p.m. April 5, 2024. Must file the FAFSA before deadline.
Eligibility: High school seniors who have a combined score of 1290 on the SAT. Must enroll full time at University of Delaware.
Award: Full tuition, fees, room, board and books at University of Delaware. Renewable for up to three years with a cumulative GPA of 3.0. One award per year.

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Charles L. Hebner Memorial Scholarship – formerly the Diamond State Scholarship

In honor of the former Speaker of the state House of Representatives

Application Opens: December 1, 2023
Application Requirements: The online application will request the student’s anticipated enrollment information for 2024-2025 (institution and major). Student’s academic records (GPA/SAT) will be collected during the review.
Deadline: Submit the scholarship application by 4:30 p.m. April 5, 2024.
Eligibility: High school seniors who have a combined score of 1290 on the SAT. Must enroll full time at a nonprofit, regionally accredited college.
Award: Renewable for up to three years with a cumulative GPA of 3.0.

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Herman M. Holloway Sr. Memorial Scholarship  

In honor of the first African American state Senator in Delaware

Application Opens: December 1, 2023
Application Requirements: The online application will request the student’s anticipated enrollment information for 2024-2025 (institution and major) and a list of student activities. Student’s academic records (GPA/SAT) will be collected during the review.
Deadline: Submit the scholarship application by 4:30 p.m. April 5, 2024. Must file the FAFSA before deadline.
Eligibility: High school seniors who have a combined score of 1000 on the SAT. Must enroll full time at Delaware State University.
Award: Full tuition, fees, room, board and books at Delaware State University. Renewable for up to three years with a cumulative GPA of 3.0. One award per year.

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NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIP

Scholarship Incentive Program (ScIP)

Application Opens: January 2, 2024
Application Requirements: The online application will request the student’s anticipated enrollment information (institution and major). Student must complete the FAFSA.
Deadline: Submit the online scholarship application and the FAFSA by May 15, 2024.
Eligibility: High school seniors and undergraduate students enrolled full time at an accredited Delaware institution, or an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an out-of-state accredited institution in a degree program that is not offered at University of Delaware, Delaware State University or Delaware Technical Community College. Student must file the FAFSA before application deadline.
Award: $1,000/year.  Award is not renewable; students must reapply every year.

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OTHER SCHOLARSHIPS

Career Based Scholarship 

Application Opens: January 2, 2024
Application Requirements: The online application will request the student’s anticipated enrollment information (institution and major). Student must complete the FAFSA.
Deadline: Submit the online scholarship application and the FAFSA by May 15, 2024.
Eligibility: Scholarship for full-time undergraduate students enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program in a Delaware public or private college in a major leading to a career in a high-need field in Delaware. The Delaware Higher Education Office and the Delaware Department of Labor will review employment trends in Delaware and update the high-need career fields list every five years. List of high-need career fields can be found here.
Award: $5,000 per year. Award is not renewable. Students can re-apply each year and preference will be given to former recipients who continue to meet eligibility criteria.

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Educator Support Scholarship 

Application Opens: January 2, 2024
Application Requirements: The online application will request the student’s anticipated enrollment information (institution and major). Student must complete the FAFSA.
Deadline: Submit the online scholarship application and the FAFSA by May 15, 2024.
Eligibility: Scholarship for full-time undergraduate students or part-time and full-time graduate students attending a Delaware public or private college who intend to pursue a career in education in high-need teaching areas and education specialist areas such as speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, school social workers, and school counselors. List of high-need teaching areas can be found here.
Award: $5,000 per year. Award is not renewable. Students can reapply each year and preference will be given to former recipients who continue to meet eligibility criteria.

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Educational Benefits for Children of Deceased Veterans and Others

Application Opens: January 2, 2024
Application Requirements: The online application will request the student’s anticipated enrollment information (institution and major). Student must complete the FAFSA by May 15, 2024.  Additional information for eligibility will be requested and collected during the review.
Deadline: Submit the online scholarship application by May 15, 2024.
Eligibility: Must be age 16 to 24 and a resident of Delaware for three or more consecutive years before the application date. If applicant’s parent was a member of the armed forces, the parent must have been a resident of Delaware at the time of death or declaration of missing in action or prisoner of war. Must be the child of one of the following:

  • Member of the armed forces whose death was service-related; who is being held or was held as a prisoner of war; or who is officially declared missing in action.
  • State police officer whose death was service-related.
  • State Department of Transportation employee routinely employed in job-related activities on the state highway system whose death was job-related.

Award: Limited to four years and will not exceed tuition and fees per academic year at a Delaware public college; or a Delaware private college, if applicant’s program of study is unavailable at a Delaware public college; or an out-of-state public or private college, if no institution in Delaware offers the program of study. Prorated for eligible students who choose to attend an institution that is out of this sequence.

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Michael C. Ferguson Achievement Award 

If you were a recipient of the Michael C. Ferguson Achievement Award in eighth or 10th grade, you can claim your award by creating a DHEO Student Account online. Once your account has been created and you have updated your college/university enrollment for the year, DHEO will match your Michael C. Ferguson Achievement Award to your account and you can claim your award. Contact DHEO@doe.k12.de.us once your student account has been created.

HOW TO APPLY

Create your DHEO Student Account

Students who wish to apply for scholarships must register and create an account. Once created, students will have the option to view and apply for scholarships on a yearly basis, submit supporting documentation for their applications and track their application status. If awarded, students will also be able to track college verifications and scholarship payments.

First-time applicants can set up their DHEO Student Account by visiting DHEO Student Account Homepage

NOTE: Communications for additional deadline information are sent to the email address you provided in your DHEO Student Account. Check your email frequently. To avoid delivery problems, add dheo@doe.k12.de.us to your address book or safe list.

Unless otherwise noted, these programs are funded by the state of Delaware; administered by the Delaware Higher Education Office (DHEO); and require Delaware residency and U.S. citizenship or eligible noncitizenship status. If you have questions about state-sponsored aid, contact:

Delaware Higher Education Office
The Townsend Building • 401 Federal St. • Ste. 2 • Dover, DE 19901
302-735-4120 • 302-739-5894 (fax) • dheo@doe.k12.de.us

Funding for DHEO scholarships is dependent on state of Delaware budget resources, which are finalized July 1 each year.

SCHOLARSHIPS ADMINISTERED BY DELAWARE COLLEGES

Inspire Scholarship 

Eligibility: Provides full tuition for eligible students enrolling full time in a degree program at Delaware State University.
Deadline: Must meet Delaware State University’s deadlines to submit application for admission, complete the FAFSA and submit other required forms.
Award: Provides tuition assistance for up to eight semesters. Recipients must qualify annually.
Contact: Delaware State University
Financial Aid Office
1200 N. DuPont Highway
Dover, DE 19901
302-857-6250
scholarships@desu.edu
desu.edu/inspire

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Delaware SEED (Student Excellence Equals Degree) Scholarship Program 

Eligibility:

  • Delaware Technical Community College: Provides tuition for eligible students enrolling at Delaware Technical Community College. The SEED scholarship can be applied to an associate degree, diploma, credit certificate, bachelor’s degree, or workforce training program at Delaware Tech.
  • University of Delaware: Provides tuition for eligible students enrolling in the University of Delaware’s Associate in Arts program.

The free tuition can be applied to five years of courses (paying for a full associate degree and one additional year toward a bachelor’s degree).

Deadline: Must meet all institutional deadlines to apply for admission, complete the FAFSA and submit all forms.

Award: Provides tuition after other financial aid received is deducted from total tuition costs. Does not cover books, fees or other related expenses.

Contacts:
Delaware Technical Community College
dtcc.edu/seed
Financial Aid Office, Owens Campus, 302-855-1693
Financial Aid Office, Terry Campus, 302-857-1040
Financial Aid Office, Stanton Campus, 302-453-3706
Financial Aid Office, Wilmington Campus, 302-434-5552
University of Delaware, Student Financial Services, 302-831-2126

University of Delaware
https://www.udel.edu/home/aap/
University of Delaware, Student Financial Services, 302-831-2126

SEED Extension Programs

SEED Extension Scholarship (Goldey-Beacom College)

Eligibility: Students who complete two years at Delaware Technical Community College’s SEED program or University of Delaware’s AAP program and earn an associate degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
Deadline: Must meet all institutional deadlines to apply for admission, complete the FAFSA and submit all forms.
Award: Provides full tuition. Scholarships are limited
Contact: Goldey-Beacom College
https://www.gbc.edu/admissions/tuition-and-financial-aid/scholarships.html
Admissions Office, 302-225-6248, Admissions@gbc.edu.

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STAR Scholarship (Wilmington University)

Eligibility: Students who graduate with an associate degree through the SEED program with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher
Deadline: Must meet all institutional deadlines to apply for admission, complete the FAFSA and submit all required forms.
Award: Provides half tuition. Scholarships are subject to available funds appropriated by Wilmington University.
Contact: Wilmington University
https://www.wilmu.edu/scholarships/STAR_scholarship.aspx
Registrar at Wilmington University, starscholarship@wilmu.edu, 302-295-1121.

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OTHER FINANCIAL AID OPPORTUNITIES FOR DELAWARE RESIDENTS

DELAWARE COLLEGE INVESTMENT PLAN

Delaware’s 529 college savings program
The Delaware College Investment Plan is sponsored by the state of Delaware and managed by Fidelity Investments. It provides parents, grandparents and others a tax-advantaged way to save for a child’s college education. Any earnings grow tax-deferred and qualified withdrawals are free from federal and Delaware state income taxes. Withdrawals can be used to pay for qualified higher education expenses. The Delaware Plan offers various investment options.

To obtain an enrollment kit, call the Wilmington Investor Center at 800-201-5380 or visit fidelity.com/delaware.

Academic Common Market 

Regional tuition-savings agreement

The Academic Common Market is a tuition-savings agreement between 15 Southern states that are members of the Southern Regional Education Board. If your degree program is not offered at a public college in Delaware, you may be eligible to attend an out-of-state college and receive in-state tuition at a public college that participates in the ACM.

To be eligible for the ACM, you must be:

  1. A Delaware resident whose degree program is not offered at Delaware State University or University of Delaware.
  2. Accepted into an eligible baccalaureate or graduate-level degree program selected for the ACM by a participating college. Note: The ACM does not include first professional degree programs, such as pharmacy, medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, theology or law.

The 15 participating states are:

Alabama
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida (graduate-level programs only)
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas (graduate-level programs only)
Virginia
West Virginia

Programs offered in the ACM are selected by the participating public colleges and are subject to change. States and colleges may also set restrictions on ACM participation, such as undergraduate or graduate-only enrollment; full-time enrollment; or the completion of specific coursework to enter the degree program.

You can submit your ACM application to the DHEO after you have been accepted into an eligible degree program. If you remain continuously enrolled in the same program at the same school, make satisfactory academic progress and retain your Delaware residency, you do not have to reapply each year. Institutional requirements to retain ACM status may include full-time enrollment and maintaining a minimum GPA.

Contact DHEO if you have questions or if your program is not offered in the ACM. The participating institutions will sometimes add a program upon request. To learn about eligible programs for Delaware residents, ACM deadlines, or to download an application, visit delawarestudentsuccess.org/acm.

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