What are Different Grants for Dive Training?

Cultivating the ability to scuba dive creates a plethora of opportunities, both personal and professional. Navy men and women can become divers and use their skills in the line of duty. Civilians can also incorporate scuba diving into their professional lives. Some are professionals in the dive industry, like dive instructors and dive shop owners. Others use their dive certification in other careers, like underwater photography. Some work in fields that are unrelated to scuba but dive as a lifelong hobby.

Grants for Students

Young men and women who are members of the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) or the Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) are eligible to apply for a grant of $1,500. This Women's Scuba Association Training Grant is a certificate that the winner must present to his or her dive instructor, who may redeem it. The money may be used for beginning or continuing dive training.

Students may also apply to The Ocean Deep's Student Eco-Diver Scholarship program, which funds a year-long independent study project. It combines dive training with projects that demonstrate an understanding of underwater ecology.

Grants for Scientific Divers

Scuba diving is an important component of scientific study in fields like marine biology and oceanography. Grants are available to people who are involved in these fields. The Women Divers Hall of Fame sponsors or co-sponsors grants for students of marine biology, ocean engineering and underwater archaeology. Students in these and similar fields can also apply for grants from their educational institutions to get training in scuba diving.

Grants for Specific Groups

Some grants are available to fund basic or advanced dive training for certain demographics that the sponsors feel are under-represented in scuba diving. These grants are unrelated to the purpose of the dive instruction; they simply seek to expose more people to scuba diving. For example, the Women Divers Hall of Fame provides grants for young women to become involved in diving. The Hugh Fletcher Memorial Training Grant provides funds for disabled people who wish to learn to dive and for instructors who want to train to become certified to teach diving to the disabled.

Rescue Diver Grants

Rescue divers provide vital services to the community where they work. They conduct searches and recoveries in dangerous conditions. Because rescue dive work is important to the community, applicants can apply to certain organizations for community-oriented grants to fund their diving operations. For example, corporations, banks and community funds sponsor community grants for which rescue divers can apply.

Commercial Diver Grants

Commercial divers dive deep for long periods of time to perform tasks like underwater maintenance. These divers need skills that are different from those required by the recreational diver. If you study for a degree in commercial diving, you can attend a federally-accredited school, and you can apply for federal grants through the school to help fund your education.

Reference: http://www.ehow.com/info_7753361_grants-dive-train...