Maryland expands scholarship eligibility and costs for students and workers

Maryland residents who graduated from Delmar High School in Delmar, Delaware, may qualify for a Community College Promise Scholarship. The added eligibility covers residents of Delmar, Maryland, who graduated from Delmar High School in Delmar, Delaware. Applicants must enroll in a vocational or other certificate program, an associate degree program, or a registered apprenticeship. The law takes effect July 1, 2026.

Eligible surviving transportation workers and certain members of their families may apply for a scholarship. Eligible applicants include a surviving transportation worker; certain children, stepchildren, spouses, unmarried partners, or siblings of a surviving or fallen worker; and a child or stepchild of an unmarried partner. Applicants must be at least 16 and accepted into or enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or professional program. A sibling qualifies only if the worker has no child, stepchild, spouse, or unmarried partner. A surviving worker must have lived through a work accident on or after January 1, 2022, that caused at least $100 million in damage to a transportation facility or project in Maryland. A fallen worker must have died from a work accident on or after that date. The law takes effect July 1, 2026. The worker’s qualifying accident or death must occur on or after January 1, 2022.

A scholarship may cover the total cost of attendance at any postsecondary institution. This applies to scholarships under the Fallen and Surviving Transportation Workers Scholarship Program. The award still has an annual maximum tied to tuition and mandatory fees at a University System of Maryland four-year campus with the highest expenses, excluding two campuses. It also has a minimum award tied to the recipient’s tuition and mandatory fees. Awards depend on available funds, and expenditures from the fund must follow the State budget. The law takes effect July 1, 2026.