Anne Ford Scholarship: What It Is, Who Qualifies, and How to Apply

Families navigating the post-secondary transition for students with learning disabilities often focus heavily on accommodations and college selection — and overlook the financial aid landscape specific to their child's disability. The Anne Ford Scholarship is one of the most well-known national awards for students with LD and ADHD, but it gets surprisingly little attention in standard financial aid conversations.

What Is the Anne Ford Scholarship?

The Anne Ford Scholarship is awarded annually by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) to a graduating high school senior with a documented learning disability who is enrolling in a four-year bachelor's degree program. The award is $10,000 paid over four years — $2,500 per year — and is renewable as long as the student maintains satisfactory academic progress.

The scholarship is named after Anne Ford, former chair of NCLD, who has been a long-standing advocate for individuals with learning disabilities. NCLD administers the selection process and oversees the award.

Who Is Eligible?

To be eligible for the Anne Ford Scholarship, an applicant must:

• Be a graduating high school senior in the United States
• Have a documented learning disability — this includes dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and ADHD, among others. The disability must be formally diagnosed and documented through evaluation records.
• Plan to enroll full-time in an accredited four-year bachelor's degree program
• Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• Demonstrate financial need — income documentation is required
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident

The scholarship is not restricted to students planning to pursue disability-related fields. Students applying to study engineering, business, education, arts, or any other discipline are all equally eligible.

The Allegra Ford Thomas Scholarship: The Two-Year College Option

NCLD also administers the Allegra Ford Thomas Scholarship, designed for students with LD or ADHD who are enrolling in two-year community colleges, vocational programs, or specialized post-secondary programs rather than four-year universities.

The Allegra Ford Thomas award is $5,000, paid over two years ($2,500 per year). It recognizes that many students with learning disabilities benefit from vocational pathways, community college transfer tracks, or specialized programs rather than the traditional four-year route.

Students who are not pursuing a four-year degree should apply for the Allegra Ford Thomas rather than the Anne Ford. Both applications are submitted through the NCLD website and share most of the same eligibility requirements — documented LD/ADHD, financial need, and a minimum GPA.

How to Apply

Applications for both NCLD scholarships open in the fall for awards in the following academic year. The application typically requires:

• Personal statement describing the student's learning disability, how it has affected their academic journey, and their goals for post-secondary education
• Academic transcripts from high school
• Documentation of the learning disability — a current psychoeducational evaluation or other formal diagnostic records
• Two letters of recommendation from teachers, counselors, or other educators familiar with the student's work
• Financial information — FAFSA data or equivalent income documentation
• College acceptance or enrollment confirmation

The personal statement is the most competitive element. Reviewers are looking for self-awareness about the disability, evidence of self-advocacy, and a clear connection between the student's experiences and their future goals. Generic essays about "overcoming challenges" score poorly; specific, honest accounts of how the learning disability shaped the student's academic strategies and self-understanding score well.

Deadlines typically fall in late November or early December. Check the NCLD website (ncld.org) each fall for the exact date — missing the deadline disqualifies an otherwise strong application.

Other National Disability Scholarships to Apply For

The Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Thomas scholarships are the most prominent LD-specific awards, but families should cast a wider net:

The Neurodiversity Scholarship (The ND Alliance): Awards varying amounts to neurodivergent students including those with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism. Application requirements vary by cycle.

disABLEDperson National Scholarship: A $2,000 award for college students living with any disability. Requires a 500-word essay on diversity and inclusion. Open to current college students, not just entering freshmen.

Johnson & Johnson Access-Ability Lime Scholarship: $10,000 for students with disabilities pursuing STEM or healthcare-related degrees. Highly competitive; requires strong academic standing.

Jack Scura Fund Scholarship: $10,000 for disabled students enrolling in higher education. Application process is managed through specific state chapters — check whether your state participates.

Disability Scholarships and Financial Aid Strategy

Disability-specific scholarships should be layered on top of, not substituted for, standard federal financial aid. FAFSA eligibility is determined without regard to disability status, so students with documented learning disabilities who meet income thresholds are eligible for Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), and Federal Work-Study.

For students with intellectual disabilities attending approved Comprehensive Transition Programs (CTPs), federal student aid is available even without a standard high school diploma. Over 350 CTP programs operate nationally; eligibility is verified through the Think College program directory.

Students who receive SSI should also be aware that college enrollment may affect their benefit amount through the Student Earned Income Exclusion — a provision that allows students under 22 who regularly attend school to exclude a significant portion of their earned income from SSI countable income calculations.

Post-secondary financial planning intersects with SSI rules, ABLE accounts, and vocational rehabilitation funding in ways that aren't obvious when you look at any single piece. The United States Post-Secondary Transition Roadmap covers how these pieces fit together — including how scholarship income is treated for SSI purposes and how to coordinate financial aid with VR funding.

See more United States guides →