Scholarships

GBD is proud to award over $10,000 in educational scholarships each year. The volunteer scholarship committee selects the recipients ranging in value to encourage post high-school education for students with a bleeding disorder who reside within GBD’s service area of southern Illinois or eastern Missouri.

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of their potential to succeed, academic achievement, leadership, participation in school and community activities, honors, work experience, statement of educational and career goals, how having a bleeding disorder has affected personal and family circumstances, and references. Applicants must either be entering or attending a community college, junior college, four-year college, university, or vocational school. The deadline for application is extended to  April 30, 2026. Applicants are notified of the committee’s scholarship decisions by June 1, 2026.

The Matthew Wilson Scholarship Application deadline was April 30, 2026.

Scholarships may be renewed for an additional three years. GBD makes no guarantee that funding will be available in subsequent years. Please use the Reapplication Form to reapply. Application must be returned to GBD along with a current grade transcript for the term or semester just completed. Your application will then go through the same selection process as it did the previous year.

Scholarship Reapplication deadline was April 30, 2026.

Academic Scholarships

GBD provides the below list of scholarships for general information purposes only. Prospective candidates will need to contact each program sponsor or administrator for detailed information or for additional inquires related to the criteria/terms of applying for these scholarship programs. GBD claims no responsibility for the scholarship program policies of other organizations.

Beth Carew Memorial Scholarship Program

Awards: Range from $500 – $6,000

Candidate:

• Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or legally living permanently in the U.S; must be diagnosed with an inherited bleeding disorder (Students who do not have an inherited bleeding disorder but whose parent(s) or sibling(s) have an inherited bleeding disorder are not eligible to apply, even though they are affected by an inherited bleeding disorder.);
• And must have performed community service and/or volunteered time and energy to any organization within their community not associated with their school; (The community service/volunteer time an applicant notes in their application should be unpaid and not required for school credit. If a student has ONLY performed community service or volunteered with a school class or club, they ARE NOT eligible to apply.)
• And must be entering or attending an accredited two-year or four-year undergraduate institution in the U.S. to obtain their first undergraduate degree (A student who has already obtained a two-year degree is eligible to apply as long as they are entering or attending an accredited four-year undergraduate institution for their first Bachelor’s Degree. Students who are pursuing or resuming an undergraduate degree later in adulthood may apply even if there was a gap in their academic career. High school seniors or undergraduate freshman, sophomores or juniors may apply.)
• Past recipients of the Beth Carew Memorial Scholarship may reapply throughout their undergraduate career, until they receive four (4) awards from the program. Once a student has received four awards, they are no longer eligible to apply, even if they are still in school to obtain their first undergraduate degree.

Deadline was February 17, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. EST. Click here for more information.

BCDI Green Family Scholarship

Awards: $500-1,500 each to up to 5 recipients

Candidate: Applicant must be diagnosed with a congenital or acquired chronic bleeding disorder or congenital clotting disorder; must reside in the BCDI service area of downstate Illinois, which for this purpose is defined as all Illinois counties with the exception of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will; must have attended a scheduled visit with an HTC in the 24 months prior to the application deadline; must have maintained a GPA of 2.5 or above; and must be enrolled or plan to enroll as a full time student at an accredited vocational/trade school, junior college, or four-year university. Deadline was March 21, 2026 Click here for more information.

Joe Pugliese Educational Award

The 2026-2027 education award will provide each of four recipients with $12,500 for tuition and/or any qualified educational expense to be used within one academic year of award receipt. Deadline was April 10, 2026. Click here for an application. 

#RAREis Scholarship Fund

The EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases has established the #RAREis Scholarship Fund to help adults with rare diseases in a variety of educational pursuits, regardless of treatment status. Thanks to the support of Amgen, one-time awards of $5,000 each will be granted up to 88 recipients for the Fall 2025 semester.

The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor, and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team. 

Applicants to the #RAREis Scholarship Fund must be:

• U.S. residents who have been diagnosed* by a physician as having any form of rare disease regardless of treatment status. Applicants will be asked to provide a Diagnosis Verification Form provided by a physician verifying diagnosis.
• Currently enrolled or planning to enroll full-time or part-time** in undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical/trade school for the Fall 2024 semester.
• 17 years old or older (no upper age limit, veterans and non-traditional students are encouraged.)

*Undiagnosed applicants may apply with completed Diagnosis Verification Form by a physician.
**There is no minimum amount of credit hours to be part-time (example, one class is considered part time).

Deadline is April 28, 2026.

Medexus B More Scholarship Program

Candidates:

• Be diagnosed with hemophilia B;
• Be a US citizen or legal US resident
• Be entering or attending an accredited secondary education institution in the United States. Students who are pursuing or resuming a degree later in adulthood may apply even if there was a gap in their academic career.

The B More Scholarship applications are available here. Deadline is April 30, 2026.

The InfuCare Rx Scholarship Program

Candidates:

• Applicants are not required to be patients of InfuCare Rx, but must have an eligible diagnosis (family members of diagnosed person are not eligible) and be a resident of the United States;
• All scholarship funds must be used for furthering the education of the recipients through a college, university, or vocational school within the United States;
• Applicants must already be accepted to a college, university, or vocational program for the 2026-27 school year. Finalists will be required to submit a recent transcript and will be interviewed by the scholarship committee; a
• All applicants for any of our scholarships must have earned a grand point average (GPA) of 3.5 or higher in their previous year of study (unless you are in a doctoral program with Pass/Fail programs, in which case you will have the ability to indicate so on your submission);
• Applicants must display professional conduct, and must be willing to act as an ambassador of our scholarship program throughout the upcoming school year;
• Applicants must be willing to allow their submitted information to be made public in the event they are selected.

Deadline is April 30, 2026 Click here for an application.

Dr. William N. Drohan Scholarship Fund

Candidate: Must have hemophilia B or be a sibling of a person with hemophilia B.; must have a need for funds; and must have applied to, been accepted at, an accredited college or university or a vocational school. Deadline is from March 1 to July 15, 2026 Click here for more information.

Novo Nordisk: NovoCare Scholarship

Candidates: People with hemophilia A, hemophilia A or B with inhibitors, congenital factor VII deficiency, congenital factor XIII deficiency, acquired hemophilia, and Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia. 10 scholarships at $2,500 for community or vocational school and 5 scholarships at $4,000 for a four year college. Minimum 2.3 GPA. Deadline is June 30, 2026 Click here for more info.

Find Scholarships in your area by clicking here.

Other Resources

Federal Student Aid Application

Financial Aid for Disabled Students

Protecting Students with Disabilities 

Scholarship Guide for Women

A guide to financial aid for women

Scholarships for Graduate Students

Children with Special Health Care Needs Program

FAQ About IEPs and 504 Planw