NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) — Some military families in North Carolina are in shock and disappointment after learning funding issues are halting some from obtaining a scholarship for children of disabled veterans.
The North Carolina Scholarship for Children of Wartime Veterans has helped thousands of students statewide. It offers a full scholarship for 8 semesters as long as a student attends an in-state North Carolina school.
Years after serving his country and getting injured in a parachute jump, Andrew Ladner is proud to see his daughter walk across the stage at Appalachian State University.
"I couldn't imagine trying to put two kids in college at the same time. And so the scholarship helped me and my family dramatically," he says.
The scholarship that helped both of his kids. But now, for some families, instead of getting good news. some families getting a surprise, that the scholarship they had hoped for won't be coming.
"To know now that there's only a few months till college starts and they've already been accepted, I think that's there's a scrambling game going on right now; going, what are we going to do?" Ladner says.
There are different tiers of eligibility for the program – Tier 1 includes children of veterans who are either deceased from wartime injuries or are 100 percent disabled. But Tier 2 includes children of veterans considered 20-90 percent disabled by the VA
The decision to limit scholarships this year impacts those in Tier 2.
Ladner says many veterans, including himself, fell into that category, and it can still include serious injuries.
"I think people don't understand the journey that you go through with the VA anyway. There are some people that their disability they probably should be a higher disability mark and it takes years to get it to that point," he says.
In the meantime, in its letter to students who had applied for the scholarship, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs said, "We will work within the bounds of statutory and regulatory guidelines to open a new application window if possible and will continue to update you on the process. We understand your concern and want to do what is possible to honor your family's service and sacrifice."
They said with the current budget, they had to prioritize the scholarships already awarded and those in the higher category.
Ladner hopes funding can improve to keep the program going for more families. "I'm not one of those groups that says, you know, everything should be for free. But there are certain things that actually surprise me. This is probably one of them," he says.
