There are several national organizations for marksmanship, and the three largest ones are the National Rifle Association (NRA), Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and USA Shooting. These three groups provide scholarship and grant opportunities for teams and students entering college.
The NRA offers the Grand Scholarship to qualifying competitors of the NRA Youth Education Summit. The summit is held annually, and the scholarship prize is between $10,000 and $20,000 dollars. CMP offers scholarships to JROTC high school cadets and ROTC college cadets. CMP offers $1,000 each to about 75 applicants every year. USA Shooting also offers scholarships to high school juniors.
NRA Grand Scholarship
11250 Waples Mill Rd.
Fairfax, VA 22030
800-672-3888, ext. 1342
friendsofnra.org
Civilian Marksmanship Program
P.O. Box 576 (mail)
Camp Perry Training Site, Bldg #3 (shipping)
Port Clinton, OH 43452
419-635-2141, ext. 1109
odcmp.com
USA Shooting
1 Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
719-866-4881
usashooting.com
The National College Athletic Association (NCAA) provides more than $1 billion in college funding ever year. To compete for a NCAA scholarship athletes must meet GPA criteria and standardized tests scores. In addition to NCAA scholarships, many schools with shooting teams offer scholarships. Contacting a prospective school about shooting for its team is often a good route to procuring a scholarship or grant for education. Other options are ROTC scholarships for shooting. These can be partial or full, and they usually require service in the military after graduation. These scholarships can also be used to pay for graduate school.
The NRA also provides grants for organizations seeking funding for their teams. These funds come from the NRA Foundation, and they can be used to further education, buy equipment and fund travel to competitions. However, the money may not be used for competitions requiring membership in another organization. The Hunting Heritage Trust also serves groups with funding for events. Their Shooting Sports Opportunity grants encourage hunting and shooting, Voter Education grants seek to ensure gun and hunting rights, and Hunting Heritage grants provide money to education the public.
Other opportunities are available through state and local sources. Two examples of these organizations are the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program.
NRA Foundation
11250 Waples Mill Rd.
Fairfax, VA 22030
800-554-9498, ext 1131
nrafoundation.org
Hunting Heritage Trust
28 Spalding Lake Circle
Aiken, SC 29803
203-426-1320 or 803-641-1030
huntingheritagetrust.org
Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program
2 Natural Resources Dr.
Little Rock, AR 72205
501-230-4738
agfc.com
Colorado Division of Wildlife
6060 Broadway
Denver, CO 80216
303-291-7346
wildlife.state.co.us