The Edward J. Milliken Scholarships are awarded annually to high school graduates of Eastern Suffolk BOCES programs who will enroll in institutions of higher education. Applications are reviewed and recipients selected by the Edward J. Milliken scholarship committee.

The Edward J. Milliken Lighthouse Scholarship was established and endowed on the occasion of Dr. Milliken's retirement from a 35-year career in public education. For more than a decade, Dr. Milliken served as District Superintendent of Suffolk County's First Supervisory District and Executive Officer of Eastern Suffolk County's Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). In addition to his responsibilities with BOCES, Dr. Milliken represented the New York State Commissioner of Education and the State Education Department in central and eastern Suffolk County, New York.

Prior to his appointment as District Superintendent, he was Superintendent of Schools for the East Islip School District. He served in a leadership capacity for school superintendents for several years, as President of both the New York State Council of School Superintendents and the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association, and as a member and co-chair of the New York State Commissioner of Education's Superintendents' Advisory Council.

Edward Milliken received a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Master's Degree from St. John's University. His Doctorate and another Master's Degree were from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he was awarded a fellowship and designated as a Research Fellow.

Dr. Milliken has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Upon his retirement, the Board of Eastern Suffolk BOCES renamed the Islip Technical School in his honor.