The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation will give $7.7 million in academic scholarships this upcoming school year, keeping its promise that the children of service members wishing to pursue undergraduate education will always be able to do so.
Notable marines and supporters, including Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer USMC and Heather Golczynski, the widow of Staff Sgt. Marcus Golczynski, celebrated the announcement at the Scholarship Foundation’s ceremony this past week.
Golczynski’s son Christian is a junior studying Management Information Systems at the University of Alabama with the help of this scholarship. His father tragically lost his life at Fallujah, Iraq, in 2007.
Heather recounted her experience the night she lost her husband in a phone interview with me.
“At that point it was so scary and I was in disbelief, but you start thinking about, ‘How am I going to do this? How am I going to finish school and put him through school?’” Heather said.
Now, 11 years out from that night, Heather noted that Christian is “thriving” at the University of Alabama.
“This is a huge thing for us … we are a one-income household, and when he wanted to go to college it was always Alabama, which is even more difficult financially because it’s out of state,” she said. “Now, when Christian’s done with his education he’ll be able to walk away with no debt, which is virtually unheard of today.”
More than 2,330 Marine and Navy corpsmen’s children are slated to benefit from the program, and scholarships are available in all 50 states for undergraduate and career technical education programs. To qualify, one must be the child of an honorably discharged USMC member, have a GPA of 2.0, and meet the financial-need requirement.
Of the scholars participating in this program, 50 percent are first-generation college students and 90 percent graduate. Additionally, more than 45 percent chose to study STEM and health science fields.
Those figures far exceed the national performance averages for graduation rates and choice of study area.
Since its inception in 1962, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation has provided more than 40,000 scholarships — nearly $125 million — to the children of Marine and Navy corpsmen.
“I don’t want any supporters to feel pity, but I want them to feel my gratitude,” Heather concluded. “We’re just so grateful for everything and have made some great friendships at the Scholarship Foundation along the way.”
Kate Hardiman is a contributor to Red Alert Politics. She is pursuing a master’s in education from Notre Dame University and teaches English and religion at a high school in Chicago.
