When Sara Ryan won the Lambda Alumni Outstanding Student Award last year, it was the culmination of three years of commitment as an ally to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and its allies (LGBTA).

"It's not always easy to be an LGBT student at Penn State," Ryan said. "This scholarship helps Penn State to be a more welcoming, more affirming place."

As universities and nonprofit organizations recognize LGBTA students' distinctive needs, more students are awarded scholarships on the basis of sexual orientation.

Penn State currently offers two such scholarships, the Lambda Alumni award and the Barry H. Marshal Undergraduate Scholarship, given to students who demonstrate an involvement with the LGBT community and heightened academic success.

Jerad Sorber, LGBTA Student Resource Center assistant director, said the alumni-funded scholarships take over when family members cut off their funding.

"When students come out, it is actually quite common to be completely cut off from family and community," Sorber said. "Think about all the financial and emotional support you get from your family on a daily basis; scholarships offer assistance to students that may not receive that same support."

The scholarships offered through Penn State are also a way for alumni to give back to a cause of personal importance.

"Many LGBT alumni want to make sure current students are getting the support that they may not have had when they were younger," LGBTA center director Allison Subasic said.

Outside the university, many nonprofit organizations are emerging to offer financial and emotional support to individuals marginalized because of their sexual orientation.

The Point Foundation was the first national organization to reward students for overcoming obstacles as an LGBT individual while maintaining outstanding academic credentials.

"We position ourselves as the Rhodes Scholarship for gay and lesbian students," Executive Director Vance Lancaster said.

Now in its third year, the Point Foundation offers 25 scholarships to students who are at the top of their class, engaged in leadership activities and involved in the LGBT community. The scholarship covers the cost of anything related to a student's degree, including housing, school supplies and tuition.

Lancaster said the foundation targets issues that are unique to the gay community.

"Research has shown that the gay and lesbian students are the most discriminated against group," he said. "Gay people can still be legally discriminated against in this country -- in 36 states, gay individuals are still not free from job discrimination."

Programs such as the Semester in Washington allow students from around the country to spend a semester combating discrimination and studying applied politics.

The Gill Foundation offers students studying in Washington, D.C., a $3,000 fellowship for a demonstration of active involvement in the LGBT community.

"The LGBT community is often disenfranchised in politics in Washington," Semester in Washington assistant director Jamie Bellis said. "We do our best to see that all disenfranchised groups are represented in politics, and the scholarship allows LGBT students to become directly involved in Washington."

Subasic said such scholarships address the specific needs of these students.

"LGBT students do not always need extra support, but sometimes they need different support," she said. "Scholarships encourage LGBT students to excel at school and also have an active voice in the LGBT community."