Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation: Eligibility and Application Guide

The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation (MCSF), established in 1962, stands as the nation's oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships to military children. Unlike many scholarship programs, MCSF aims to award a scholarship to every applicant who meets the eligibility requirements and submits a complete application by the deadline. The foundation has awarded more than 55,000 scholarships valued at over $200 million since its founding. Recipients attend schools across all 50 states and 27 overseas locations. MCSF scholarship recipients graduate at a 91% rate, compared to the national average of 54%. Half of recipients finish school with little to no debt, versus 33% nationally. Forty-five percent of recipients major in STEM or health science fields.

Who is Eligible?

In short, all applicants must be the child of a Marine or a Navy Corpsman, Chaplain or Religious Programs specialist attached to a Marine unit, have a cumulative GPA of 2.00, and have an adjusted gross income at or below the financial eligibility threshold determined by the Foundation on an annual basis.

To be eligible for a Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation scholarship, applicants must meet several criteria:

Relationship to a Marine or Navy Corpsman: Applicants must be the child of a Marine, or the child of a Navy corpsman, Navy chaplain or religious program specialist who served with a Marine unit.
GPA Requirement: Applicants need a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0.

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Financial Need: Applicants must demonstrate financial need.
Adjusted Gross Income: Applicants need a family adjusted gross income at or below $129,000 for the 2024 tax year. You can apply if your family’s income is over the threshold ($129,000 for tax year 2024), but there is no guarantee you’ll be awarded a scholarship. You will need to provide a thorough explanation of your family’s financial need, and you may be required to provide additional documents to substantiate your explanation. Only applicants with extreme extenuating financial circumstances will be considered.
Undergraduate Studies: The scholarship covers undergraduate degrees at accredited institutions. This scholarship is for undergraduate students at every level.
Certificate Programs: A separate career and technical education track is available year-round for students pursuing non-degree certificate programs or vocational training. This scholarship is for students planning to attend a non-degree certificate program of any length. This scholarship is for undergraduate students, including those pursuing non-degree certificate programs that are longer than 12 months.
Honorable Discharge: Veterans must have received an honorable discharge. A discharge status of other, general, under honorable conditions, dishonorable, etc. is not acceptable. The Character of Service on the DD214 must read: HONORABLE.

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Special Circumstances

Stepchildren: Yes! Stepchildren may be required to provide additional documentation to show proof of their relationship to the qualifying military parent (typically a tax document and/or a marriage certificate).
Part-time Students: Yes!
Online Degree Programs: Yes!
Dual Enrollment: No. Students who are in dual enrollment or early access programs are not eligible for our scholarship while still in high school.
VA and/or GI Bill Benefits: Yes!
Grandchildren: The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation administers programs for several Marine Corps associations that offer scholarships to the grandchildren of their members. To qualify, applicants must provide documentation of their grandparents’ membership in one of the following associations AND meet the Scholarship Foundation’s eligibility criteria. There are no exceptions.
Heroes Tribute Program: Children of Marines or Corpsmen who were killed in action, wounded in action or medically retired due to service-related injuries may qualify for the foundation's Heroes Tribute program, which provides up to $10,000 per year and up to $40,000 over four years.
Already Completed Undergraduate Courses/Earned a Bachelor’s Degree: No. If you’ve already earned an undergraduate degree or completed all your undergraduate courses, then you’re not eligible for a scholarship.
Fifth Year Scholarship: In rare circumstances, the Foundation will award fifth scholarship awards when funding is available. You are welcome to apply, but a fifth award is not guaranteed and not all who apply will be awarded.
Gap Year: No, your scholarship may only be used in academic year in which it was awarded. If your scholarship is paid partially, or in full, it will count as one of your four paid awards.

Scholarship Award Details

Scholarship awards levels are $2,500, $5,000, $7,500, or $10,000 per academic year.

Award Amounts: Individual awards range from $2,500 to $10,000 depending on financial need, GPA and available funding.
Average Scholarship: The average scholarship is roughly $4,000 per year, renewable for up to four years.
Renewal: Applicants who received a scholarship in a previous year must reapply each year and continue to meet eligibility requirements. Awards are not automatically renewed. You’re eligible for up to four paid awards but you are required to re-apply and meet our eligibility criteria each year.
Total Awarded in 2025: In 2025, the foundation awarded 2,886 scholarships totaling more than $12 million.
Use of Funds: Your scholarship may be used for any cost of attendance expenses incurred during the academic year. Cost of attendance can include but is not limited to: tuition/fees, room/board, books, transportation, and other school-related expenses as defined by your school. Yes, as long as your summer classes are in the same academic year (for AY2026-2027, summer 2027 is included).

The Application Process

How to Apply

The application is online at mcsf.org/apply. The online application is open from January 1 through March 1 each year.

Required Documents

Additional documents may be required during the application process to verify eligibility. All documents must be uploaded to the online application. Additionally, all documents must be uploaded as one merged file. Don’t have a scanner? www.ilovepdf.com is a free online tool that merges and splits PDFs and converts photo files to PDF.

Required documents include:

Transcript: The applicant's transcript showing completed fall 2025 grades and a cumulative GPA . I won’t be able to get my official transcript by the application deadline. Screenshots are acceptable, IF the items listed above can be seen in one screenshot. Microsoft Word, text, or editable documents aren’t acceptable.
Tax Return: All pages of the family's 2024 federal tax return. Even if you file your own taxes, you may also have to provide your parent’s taxes. *You’ll need to submit all pages of IRS form 1040, which is two or three pages based on the version (you are not required to provide the supplemental pages that often accompany the 1040 form unless you are listed on a statement of dependents). Must provide the parent’s taxes on which they’re claimed (this means the dependent’s will appear in the Dependents box - or on the supplemental List of Dependents form). I’m considered a dependent student, but I'm paying for my own education. Yes. Dependent students must submit their parent’s taxes regardless of whether their parent is paying for their education. My parents are divorced or separated. Submit the taxes for the parent who claims you (your name will appear on the 1040 tax form in the Dependents box - or on the supplemental List of Dependents form). Provide an IRS Verification of Non-Filing Letter for 2024. If you haven’t requested from the IRS, you can provide a Statement of Non-filing of a Federal Tax Return form in lieu of taxes. The form can be found within the application and must be signed by you and your parents. However, the IRS Verification letter must be provided before a final award decision can be made.
DD214 Form: The DD214 (Member-4) form is a required document for our application. We need your parent’s final DD214 as listed in the question above.
Report of Casualty DD 1300 Form: You’ll need to provide the Report of Casualty DD 1300 Form. My parent was killed in action, killed in service, or killed in training.
Photo: A clear photo of yourself suitable for reproduction in our publications and donor relations materials. The photo must be at least 500KB and preferably 300 dpi. Professional photos (senior portraits or otherwise) are preferred. PHOTO: A clear photo of yourself suitable for reproduction in our publications and donor relations materials. The photo must be at least 500KB and preferably 300 dpi.

Key Dates

Application Window: The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation's 2026-2027 application window closes March 1. The undergraduate application is open January 1 to March 1 each year.
Application Deadline: The application must be complete with all documentation submitted by March 1. MCSF does not accept paper applications. If applicants submit their application with missing or incorrect documents, they will be considered ineligible for an award.

After the Award

Check Processing: Congratulations! We can’t send your scholarship check to your school until these items are completed. The check processing time depends on your school and we cannot control or expedite this process. We encourage you to reach out to your school’s financial aid office directly to find out when the funds will be applied to your account.
Changing Schools: I'm not attending the school I indicated on my application. We know that plans can change between your submitted application by March 1 and the summer, so the intended school in your application is non-binding.
Transferring Schools: I'm transferring schools in the spring semester. Complete and submit the transfer form found on your Marine Scholar portal under the Award Status section.
Outside Scholarship Forms: My school requires an outside scholarship form. Be sure your full name and student ID are included in the request, along with your portion of the form filled in.

Additional Scholarship Opportunities

Marine Corps Association Scholarships: The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation administers programs for several Marine Corps associations that offer scholarships to the grandchildren of their members.
"Be Bold" Scholarship: The "Be Bold" Scholarship is a no-essay scholarship that will be awarded to the applicant with the boldest profile. It takes less than 2 minutes to apply.
ScholarshipOwl: ScholarshipOwl is your source of relief from the dreaded application process. We put students on the fast-track to success by providing direct access to the scholarships they need the most. Take the hassle out of financial aid and maximize your chance at a free ride in college.
LeverEdge Association Scholarship: The Scholarship is open to all residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, age 17 or older at the time of entry. Employees and contractors of LeverEdge Association are ineligible to participate in the Scholarship Program.
Scholarships360 "No Essay" Scholarship: The Scholarships360 $10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship is open to all students who want some extra help paying for their education.
Niche Scholarships: Niche can help with every step of the college search including paying for it.
Christian Connector Scholarship Drawings: The Christian Connector offers various scholarship drawings for Christian/Faith Based colleges and universities.
StudentScholarships.org Scholarship: Scholarship Eligibility:A) Anyone who is between the ages of 14-25 who will be attending school in the Fall of 2026.B) This scholarship is provided by StudentScholarships.org. In order to apply for our scholarship follow these instructions:1.

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