Scholarships for Students with Type 1 Diabetes: Every Real Option in 2026
Scholarships for Students with Type 1 Diabetes: Every Real Option in 2026
Managing Type 1 diabetes through high school and into college comes with costs that go well beyond insulin and supplies — the daily management alone shapes how much energy is left for extracurriculars, part-time jobs, and everything else that builds a typical scholarship résumé. A meaningful number of scholarships exist specifically to account for that reality, from large needs-based awards to niche programs tied to specific sports or career paths. Here's what's actually out there.
Beyond Scholars — The Largest Needs-Based Award for This Community
Run by Beyond Type 1, this is described directly by the organization as one of the largest needs-based diabetes scholarships in the United States, and the numbers back that up: a single $10,000 award, open to recently graduated high school seniors with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes entering college or trade school.
Beyond the cash, recipients get six months of wellness coaching through Risely Health — a genuinely distinctive benefit that no other scholarship on this list offers. The application window is short: it typically opens in late July and closes about a month later in late August, with winners announced in October. Mark your calendar for this one specifically — a month-long window is easy to miss if you're not tracking it deliberately, and unlike rolling or multi-cycle scholarships, missing it means waiting a full year for the next opportunity.
JDRF Rising Star and Diabetes Scholars Foundation
The Diabetes Scholars Foundation runs three separate award tracks: the core Diabetes Scholars Scholarship ($1,000 to $5,000), the Lilly Diabetes Tomorrow's Leaders Scholarship, and the JDRF Rising Star award, which provides a single $5,000 scholarship specifically to an incoming freshman with Type 1 diabetes. All three are aimed at high school seniors headed to college or vocational-technical school, giving you multiple shots within a single application to one foundation.
Because these three tracks run through one foundation, a single application session can put you in consideration for several award tiers simultaneously — worth checking whether one application covers all three tracks or whether each requires separate submission, since foundations vary in how they structure this.
Sport-Specific Awards — Genuinely Underused
If you're a competitive athlete managing Type 1 diabetes, three programs specifically reward that combination, and because they're sport-specific, the applicant pool is a fraction of what a general diabetes scholarship draws.
Scott & Kim Verplank Foundation Scholarship pays up to $10,000 annually, renewable for four years — meaning a single award, if maintained, could total $40,000 across a full degree. Eligibility requires being a high school senior with Type 1 diabetes participating in organized sports, with a 3.0+ GPA. This is arguably the strongest total-value scholarship on this entire list once you factor in the four-year renewal.
Team Type 1 Global Ambassador Scholarship offers up to $10,000 to student-athletes with Type 1 diabetes attending an NAIA or NCAA school and playing a sanctioned sport. Same 3.0+ GPA requirement, plus a commitment to diabetes advocacy work — this isn't a passive award, it expects ongoing engagement from recipients. In practice, that advocacy commitment might mean speaking at diabetes awareness events, participating in Team Type 1's outreach programs, or mentoring younger athletes managing the same condition — factor that ongoing time commitment into your decision if you're weighing multiple award offers, since a scholarship with expected activity attached is a different commitment than a one-time cash award.
Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards pay $5,000 to $10,000 specifically for high school or college students with Type 1 diabetes who play competitive tennis. This is about as narrow as scholarship eligibility gets, and that narrowness is exactly why it's worth knowing about if tennis happens to be your sport — the applicant pool is almost certainly tiny relative to the award size.
Career-Track Awards for Healthcare and Law
Two scholarships specifically reward students whose diabetes experience is shaping their intended career:
Marc & Valerie Fishman Type 1 Diabetes Scholarship — amount varies, for Type 1 diabetes students pursuing healthcare fields specifically: nursing, physician assistant programs, or dietetics. If your diabetes management experience is pushing you toward a healthcare career, this scholarship rewards that connection directly rather than treating it as incidental.
Katz & Phillips Ashley Rose Honorary Law Scholarship — $1,000, for law students whose lives have been shaped by diabetes. A modest amount, but one of the only scholarships on this list specifically for law students rather than the more common healthcare or general-education focus.
Diabetes Impact Scholarship (Bold.org) — $2,000, for students with diabetes pursuing healthcare or advocacy careers, a slightly broader eligibility net than the Fishman award's specific healthcare-field requirement.
Disability-Focused Awards That Include Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes qualifies under several broader disability scholarship programs, which are worth knowing about even though they're not diabetes-specific:
Auger & Auger Disabled Scholar Award — $1,000, open to students with any disability, diabetes included, with a July 31 deadline.
Buckfire & Buckfire Disability Scholarship — $1,000, for U.S. college students with documented disabilities, October 1 deadline.
These are smaller awards, but they're worth batching alongside your diabetes-specific applications since they typically require similar documentation (medical verification of your condition) that you'll already be gathering for the larger awards.
The Diabetes Link — A Resource Worth Bookmarking Beyond Just Scholarships
The Diabetes Link runs its own scholarship search specifically curated for the Type 1 diabetes community, with multiple awards available and deadlines spread from early spring through May. Some of their listed scholarships are open to family members of people with diabetes, not just the diagnosed individual — worth checking if a sibling, parent, or caregiver in your family is also pursuing higher education, since that eligibility category is easy to overlook in a typical scholarship search.
Beyond the scholarship database itself, The Diabetes Link connects students to a broader peer community — useful context for essay writing specifically, since scholarship committees reviewing diabetes-specific applications respond well to essays that demonstrate genuine community engagement, not just medical management alone.
Comparison Table
| Scholarship | Amount | Key requirement | Deadline window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond Scholars | $10,000 | Recent HS grad, T1D or T2D, needs-based | Late July–late August |
| JDRF Rising Star | $5,000 | Incoming freshman with T1D | Varies |
| Diabetes Scholars Scholarship | $1,000–$5,000 | HS senior with T1D | Varies |
| Scott & Kim Verplank Foundation | Up to $10,000/yr, renewable 4 yrs | T1D + organized sports, 3.0+ GPA | ~April 15 |
| Team Type 1 Global Ambassador | Up to $10,000 | T1D athlete at NAIA/NCAA school | ~March |
| Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards | $5,000–$10,000 | T1D + competitive tennis | ~May |
| Marc & Valerie Fishman | Varies | T1D pursuing healthcare field | Late August |
| Diabetes Impact Scholarship | $2,000 | Diabetes + healthcare/advocacy career | Early October |
How to Actually Approach This List
- Mark Beyond Scholars' short window immediately. A month-long application period is the easiest deadline on this entire list to miss, and it's also the largest single needs-based award.
- If you're an athlete, prioritize the sport-specific awards. The Verplank Foundation's four-year renewal makes it the highest total-value scholarship here if you qualify.
- Apply to all three Diabetes Scholars Foundation tracks if eligible — one foundation, potentially multiple award opportunities.
- If your career direction is healthcare or law, use the Fishman or Ashley Rose scholarships to connect your diabetes experience directly to your professional goals in your essay.
- Gather your medical documentation once, use it across every application. Most of these scholarships require some form of diagnosis verification — assembling that paperwork early saves you from scrambling separately for each award.
Bottom Line
- Beyond Scholars is the largest needs-based award at $10,000, but its application window is short (late July to late August) — track this deadline carefully.
- The Scott & Kim Verplank Foundation Scholarship offers the strongest total value on this list: up to $40,000 across four years for student-athletes.
- JDRF Rising Star and the Diabetes Scholars Foundation's other two tracks give you multiple shots through a single foundation.
- Sport-specific awards (Verplank, Team Type 1, Novo Nordisk Donnelly) draw smaller applicant pools precisely because of their narrow eligibility.
- Broader disability scholarships (Auger & Auger, Buckfire & Buckfire) are worth batching alongside diabetes-specific awards since documentation needs overlap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these scholarships require proof of Type 1 diabetes diagnosis?
Most do require some form of medical documentation or verification, though the specific requirements vary by scholarship. Gather your diagnosis documentation early in your application process so you're not scrambling to request records from your endocrinologist right before a deadline.
Can students with Type 2 diabetes apply for any of these scholarships?
Some can — Beyond Scholars specifically accepts both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes applicants. Most of the other scholarships on this list, including JDRF Rising Star and the sport-specific awards, are Type 1-specific. Check each program's eligibility criteria carefully since this distinction varies by scholarship.
Is the Scott & Kim Verplank Foundation Scholarship really renewable for four years?
Yes, based on current program details — it's structured to pay up to $10,000 annually and can be renewed across a full four-year degree, assuming you continue meeting the program's eligibility and GPA requirements each year. This makes it one of the highest total-value scholarships specifically for Type 1 diabetes students on this list.
What sports besides tennis have diabetes-specific scholarship programs?
The Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards are tennis-specific, but the Scott & Kim Verplank Foundation and Team Type 1 Global Ambassador scholarships cover organized sports and NAIA/NCAA sanctioned sports broadly, not just one specific sport. If your sport isn't tennis, these broader athletic scholarships are the better fit to check first.
Are there diabetes scholarships specifically for graduate or professional school students?
The Katz & Phillips Ashley Rose Honorary Law Scholarship specifically targets law students, and the Marc & Valerie Fishman scholarship covers some graduate-level healthcare tracks like physician assistant programs. Most of the other scholarships on this list are aimed at undergraduate students, so graduate and professional students should specifically check eligibility on a program-by-program basis.
How many of these scholarships can I realistically apply to in one year?
Given how specific some of the eligibility criteria are (sport-specific, career-specific, needs-based), most students will genuinely qualify for four to six of these programs simultaneously. Applying to every one you're eligible for is reasonable since the documentation requirements overlap significantly, making each additional application faster than the first.
