The Virginia Office of EMS provides a scholarship program providing monetary awards to prospective and current Virginia EMS providers. The scholarship program supports students who are accepted into an eligible Virginia approved initial certification program, such as EMR, EMT, Advanced EMT, and Paramedic programs. The scholarship may cover a majority, if not all, of your course fees depending on the cost of your program. In addition to tuition costs, this program may also be used to cover costs associated with textbooks, uniforms, testing, skills tracking programs, background checks (if required), and physicals (if required). Frontline Educators will provide an itemized list of what our the tuition costs include. Eligibility for the scholarship program is broken down into 2 parts: student and course. These parts are listed below for review.
Frontline Educators typically sets our EMT course costs around the maximum allotted scholarship amount as we feel all students should be able to take advantage of this funding source, if eligible. Financial obstacles should not be the reason students don’t pursue their EMT certification goals. If you are affiliated with an agency, your agency may also opt to cover your tuition costs, in lieu of or in conjunction with the scholarship program.
If accepted into our EMT program, we will walk you through the steps of applying for this scholarship program during your orientation night. You cannot apply in advance as you must be enrolled in the program first.
** Students may receive a 1099 for miscellaneous income and may be responsible for reporting OEMS scholarship funding on their taxes. If applicable, students are encouraged to speak with their EMS agency (prior to enrolling) about accepting OEMS scholarship funds on the students behalf and paying for the program up to the amount issued by the scholarship.
Student Eligibility
Per the VA Office of EMS, a student’s eligibility is automatically determined by the Virginia EMS Portal and is based on the following eligibility criteria:
- must be a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia;
- shall not have any current Office of EMS imposed enforcement action from the Division of Regulation and Compliance;
- must be enrolled in an eligible Virginia approved initial certification program;
- must have reached the “Age of Majority” in the Commonwealth, otherwise students 16-17 are required authorize their EMS agency to manage their scholarship award on their behalf;
- must have a valid social security number issued by the U.S. Social Security Administration; and
- must have paid tuition for the program in which you were enrolled;
There are some instances where a student may not receive the scholarship funds. For example, if the student is under 18 years old and not affiliated with an EMS agency; or, if a student owes money to the Virginia government. As this program is meant to be a reimbursement, the student is responsible for paying course tuition to Frontline Educators upfront, regardless of scholarship eligibility, in order to be enrolled in the course.
Students will be required by the VA Office of EMS to sign a scholarship contract, which requires the following:
- successful completion of their initial certification program;
- successful testing obtaining Virginia certification at the level of training;
- affiliation with a licensed Virginia EMS agency for a minimum of one (1) year;
- compliance with all applicable Code of Virginia and EMS Regulations as well as the Training Program Administration Manual;
- notifying the Office of EMS of any change in legal name, address change or criminal/civil charges within five (5) days of the event;
You may review a sample contract here.
Course Eligibility
Per the VA Office of EMS, course eligibility is automatically determined by the Virginia EMS Portal and is based on the following criteria:
- must be a Virginia approved initial certification course;
- the course AND/OR the Education Coordinator who announced the course must be at or above the 16th percentile;
- the 16th percentile is a benchmark used to compare programs and instructors against their peers;
- the course AND/OR the Education Coordinator shall not have any current OEMS imposed enforcement actions;
- the course AND/OR the Education Coordinator must be listed as an “open” course allowing enrollments from the public without discrimination;
- the course (or program) shall charge the same tuition rate for the program to all students;
The owners of Frontline Educators pride themselves on being at or above the 16th percentile to be able to offer the scholarship program to their students.
For more information about the scholarship, including this year’s funding amounts, click here.