The Brave of Heart Scholarship Fund

Organization & Scholarship Overview:
The Brave of Heart Fund was founded in May 2020 by the Foundations of Cigna and New York Life and administered by E4E Relief. It was established to provide charitable grants and emotional support services to families of frontline healthcare workers, volunteers, and support staff whose lives were lost in the fight against COVID-19. The Brave of Heart Fund continues to honor the hard work and sacrifice of healthcare workers and their families via scholarship funding for their spouses, domestic partners, and children.

Website: The Brave of Heart Scholarship
Application: Check Eligibility & Apply
Please Note: The application will close by Wednesday, April 20, 2022 by 3:00 pm Chicago Time.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Be a child, spouse or domestic partner of a frontline healthcare worker who lost their life to a COVID-19-related cause.
  (a) Child is defined as a biological, step- or legally adopted child who is age 26 and under as of the application deadline date and living in the frontline healthcare worker’s household or primarily supported by the frontline healthcare worker, or, if financially independent, enrolled in a graduate school program.
  (b) Frontline healthcare worker is defined as a person who lived in the United States at the time of death and worked or volunteered in or for a licensed hospital, medical center or clinic, nursing home, medical transport vehicle, triage center, or other licensed medical facility, provider, or setting, or who worked or volunteered as an emergency medical technician, ambulance technician or paramedic. The individual must have had the possibility of exposure to patients with COVID-19 while working or volunteering.
• Plan to enroll full-time or part-time (at least 6 credits per term) in an undergraduate or graduate program (graduate program must have a patient-facing medical major).
• Plan to attend an accredited vocational-technical school, two- or four-year college or university, or graduate school.
• Have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent. Non-traditional students are encouraged to apply, and will be considered even if they do not have a recent GPA.
• Be a United States (U.S.) citizen or legal resident living in and attending an educational institution in the U.S. or a U.S. territory.
• Study abroad programs may be eligible courses of study if run through an educational institution in the U.S. or a U.S. territory.

Ineligible occupations include: non-medical frontline workers, such as supermarket employees, delivery workers, ride-share drivers, funeral home staff, and police. Firefighters are also ineligible unless certified EMTs or paramedics. Other occupations may be ineligible and are evaluated at the sole discretion of the sponsor.

Required Documents:

1. Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate or proof of student relationship to deceased healthcare worker
2. Proof of Occupation of deceased healthcare worker
3. Death Certificate of deceased healthcare worker
4. IRS Tax Form 1040 – Students who are claimed as dependents must supply their parent(s) tax form
5. Transcript of student applying, if applicable

Open to DREAMers: No
Renewable: No; awards are not renewable. Students can reapply to the program each application cycle they meet the eligibility requirements. Applicants can receive the award a maximum of eight terms or four academic years (whichever occurs first).
Questions? Please email braveofheart@scholarshipamerica.org