Check with the Family Support Center located on the base you are affiliated with or the one nearest you if the qualified military member is no longer active. This step cannot be stressed enough, since there are many opportunities that will not be advertised or well known through other sources. Some bases even have their own private scholarships offered through local financial supporters.
Use the military scholarship finder at Military.com to locate financial-aid programs and scholarships (see Resources below).
Verify that you qualify. Some scholarships have rather detailed qualifications, so you'll need to read all the fine print. This is particularly true for active-duty military members who are electing to use their GI Bill money, as the scholarships may not be open to those who still have other, more abundant avenues of financial aid.
Fill out all of the forms completely and accurately. Some scholarships will be simple, one-page applications while others will be quite complicated. All of them will require verification of military status, so take that information when you go to complete the applications.
Contact the financial-aid office at a university or college that is near the local base. Such institutions are usually completely comfortable with helping military families with financial aid. Often, they will be nearly as knowledgeable as the Family Support Center staff when it comes to these specialized scholarships.
Apply before the beginning of the semester you plan to attend the school. Most military scholarships have very small windows of time in which you can submit your application, and most of these are prior to the beginning of the fall semesters.