Educational Scholarships and Healthcare Programs for Veterans and Medical Students

Are you looking for a scholarship to attend college or vocational training? The Michigan American Legion Auxiliary supports higher education through our scholarship programs. We believe education is important and want to provide scholarships for students who desire a college education. The American Legion Auxiliary Department of Michigan offers three education scholarships to descendants of U.S. Veterans.

American Legion Auxiliary Department of Michigan Scholarships

Please read the instructions and provide all the information requested on the application. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, check out the scholarship links for eligibility requirements, deadlines, and application forms. The following opportunities are available for 2025-2026:

• 2025-2026 Past President’s Parley Medical Career Scholarship
• 2025-2026 Michigan Memorial Scholarship Application
• 2025-2026 Michigan Non-Traditional Student Application
• 2025-2026 Michigan Betty Cline Scholarship Application

The Auxiliary, the national organization, also supports various scholarship programs that benefit veterans, their descendants, and the American Legion Family.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Managed Programs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) manages multiple educational programs for students in specific health care professions. These initiatives help VA meet its need for qualified healthcare professionals for which recruitment or retention is difficult.

The Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP) awards scholarships to students receiving education or training in a direct or indirect health-care services discipline. To increase the supply of qualified blind rehabilitation specialists, the Visual Impairment and Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program (VIOMPSP) awards scholarships to students seeking a degree or certificate in visual impairment or orientation and mobility.

The Vet Center scholarship awards scholarships to students receiving education or training in a mental health related field. This scholarship enables the Readjustment Counseling Service to adequately supply mental health professionals to their VA Vet Centers throughout the United States. Furthermore, VA-STEP provides an opportunity for outstanding college students to develop clinical competencies at an approved VA medical facility and serves as a recruitment tool to encounter students before they enter the VA workforce.

For those already in their medical careers, the Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program (SELRP) assists physician residents in reducing their medical school student loan debt by providing $40,000 per training year.

Summary of VA Scholarship Programs

Human Connection in Healthcare: Honoring Veterans

Residents and medical students collaborate to honor veterans through humanistic clinical care. On Veterans Day, November 11, two residents and 11 medical students gathered at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans' Administration Medical Center (Phoenix VA) to distribute patches and cards of gratitude to the patients admitted to the medicine floors and to those staying in the community living center.

The event was organized through the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS). The GHHS is a medical society that honors and recognizes medical students, residents and faculty for their humanism and empathy in medicine; and it reinforces and supports the human connection in health care, which is essential for the health of patients and clinicians.

Alexis Bailey, a third-year resident in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix’s Internal Medicine Residency, helped organize the event. She noted: “I have seen how isolating it can be to be hospitalized, and this is further emphasized for many veterans when they are hospitalized on a day that means so much to them. When I care for them, I witness how much many veterans enjoy sharing about their service, and I thought this small gift of appreciation would be a great way to not only to honor the veterans but invite them to share more about their lives and service.”