College Grant Opportunities for Single Moms
Parenting is a challenging adventure for any parent, single or as a set. Single mothers know the endeavor to be even more challenging than most, for most if not all of the parenting responsibilities fall on her and her alone. Striving to provide an income and take care of all the parenting duties alone can be a daunting task for anyone. The daily caring for the children, getting them to school and daycare, getting meals on the table and making the income necessary for all of this and more. For the single mom who wishes to seek help with returning to school in order to improve her job prospects and earning potential, there are many various avenues to pursue regarding grants for single mothers.
The entire purpose behind the offering of grants to single mothers is to make funds available for educational pursuits for those who cannot afford tuition otherwise. These grants often do not cover everything involved with a college education, but they do go a long ways towards defraying some of the costs involved. Most especially tuition and books, for once tuition and books are covered; many students can make ends meet from there.
Grants are not the same thing as scholarships or student loans. There are differences.
Scholarships are merit-based, where students must fit a certain criteria of merits and achievements in order to be considered eligible for the scholarships. Grants are, by contrast, need based. This means the eligibility for grants is based upon income and ability to provide for the needs of the family.
Student loans are just that, loans. They will need to be repaid at some point in the student’s future, typically beginning after the student has graduated from college.
In summary, grants are financial gifts that do not need to be repaid at any time in the student’s future. They are truly a boost for many single mothers, money given to help with education without repayment worries and strings attached.
That being said, there are several avenues and sources from which grants for single mothers can be obtained. The most common avenues are:
Federal and State government
Colleges and Universities
Public and Private organizations
Federal Grants
Federal government grants are perhaps one of the most enduring and well used sources for grant applications. All of the available grants that fall under the federal government umbrella are subject to the applicant having filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This application can be filed starting the first of January every year. It is a good idea for students to get the FAFSA on file as soon after that date as possible. That way applications for grants will not be hindered by a cornerstone requirement not having been met as of yet. Even if you are unsure of your education plans, get the FAFSA on file and ready to work for you.
Federal grants for single mothers include grants such as these:
Pell Grant - this grant is a long standing grant that has been offered since 1972. A need based grant, Pell offers from $400 to $5,350 to eligible applicants. As mentioned before, a FAFSA must be on file for this as well as other federal grants.
Federal Supplementation Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) - this federal government regulated grant is a need based grant geared for students who display the greatest need, financially. An FAFSA must be filed for applicants to be eligible for the FSEOG. Students are qualified to receive this grant can receive from $100 to $4,000 towards tuition, books and necessities of life.
Academic Competitive Grant(ACG) - in contrast to the above mentioned need based grants, this grant is a merit based grant that can be awarded to students who are in their first or second year of college with a high academic standing from high school behind them. The financial awards for this grant are up to $750 for first year students and $1300 for second year students. As with all federal grants, that FAFSA must be on file for eligibility.
National SMART (Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent) - this one is a merit based federal government grant. Which means, of course, the applicant must meet a list of certain achievement requirements in order to be eligible. In this particular case, the candidate for the ACG grant must be a third or fourth year student who is pursuing their degree in one of these fields: engineering, science, math or one of the foreign languages on the list of languages that are important for homeland security. The monetary award for this grant is up to $4,000. As with other grants, applicants must have their FAFSA on file in order to be eligible.
The above is merely a list of common and accessible federal grants, with some research students can likely find more and maximize the opportunities for obtaining good federal grants to help in their education pursuit. The next listing of grants for single mothers pertains to state grants. State grants are those that are offered by each individual state where the eligibility requirements begin with state residency. Each state has compiled their application process, a specific list of eligibility requirements and various award amounts.
State grants for single mothers include some of these:
New York State’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)- this program awards up to $5,000 to New York state residents who are eligible for the program.
New Mexico Student Incentive Grand Awards- these awards are from $200 to $2,500 as per the applicant’s qualifications.
Kansas Comprehensive Grants is a program that awards from $100 to $1,000 to those that qualify.
School Provided Grants
In this day and age, the number of single mothers trying to make it alone with their families is such a huge part of the population, that many colleges and universities have developed their own grants for single mothers. Schools are more and more beginning to set up their own grant programs specifically to help single mothers get their education and provide for their family at the same time. It is a challenge to be a single mother in any case, much less if you need or want to return to college and pursue options for a better career. The way to find out about these programs is to take each school of interest and check into their specific grants for single mothers, all will have some sort of program or references to other programs that can help. It is important to remember that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be on file for an applicant to be considered eligible for any of these school based grant programs. The FAFSA can be completed and filed online shortly after the first of January each year.
Private Grants For Single Mothers
Because the part of the population that is made up of single mothers trying to make a good life for their children on their own, many private corporations, both for profit and non profit, offer grants for single mothers. The financial aid office at the schools being considered are the best resources for learning about which private avenues may be pursued for grants. The financial counselors should have lists of those types of grants and be able to assist applicants in obtaining further information and applying for these grants for single mothers.
Employer Grants
Many employers will offer grants for single mothers or tuition reimbursement programs where they will pay back the cost of the education degree to the student. If the degree being sought is one that will boost the student’s value to the employer, that only makes it even more likely that the employer will help foot the bill and make obtaining the degree easier on the single mother.
Other Grant Opportunities
In addition to grants that help single mothers further their educational dreams and make a better life for their families, there are also grants available to help with day to day life expenses in general. These types of grants can help cover housing (renting or owning) and daycare expenses, just to name a couple. Some of these types of grant opportunities are:
Public housing agencies (PHA) that will provide a single mother with some subsidy towards her rent payments on the home she and her family live in. Typically these places work to negotiate an acceptable rent rate with the landlord and then pay that rate for the single mother and her family.
The Sunshine Lady Foundation is committed to providing single mothers who are coping with an abusive relationship with help needed to get on their feet and provide for the children.
When in search of grants for single mothers, it is imperative to be alert for scams. Most scams will ask for some sort of money or private information that does not seem quite fitting at the time. Ensure that any grants applied for are from reputable schools, companies or the federal and state governments.
Searching for some or all of the above mentioned grants can seem overwhelming, especially when first starting out. The key is to take your time and methodically research, making a list of possibilities as you learn about the various grant options available. The ideal best thing to do is to get online, either at home, a friend’s house or the public library. The public library will often have resources you can ask about and they will refer you to further grant information. By getting online to the Internet, it is easy to learn about a vast array of options that might work for you and your family. Once online, you can enter ‘grants for single mothers’ into a search engine and the quest for information begins. Pay specific attention to government, school or reputable companies and organizations, for they are where the legitimate grants for single mothers exist.
That being said, here are a few suggestions to check into:
Individual state websites- going to the site of the state you reside in will bring forth a ton of information about grants that are available to single mothers. If the specific information you seek is not easily found online, there should at least be phone numbers or references you can work from to find out more information.
Individual college or university websites- each of the schools will have a financial aid page that can assist with grant information.
Being a single mother is a challenging and exhausting job. In the world today, there are many people and organizations both for profit and non profit who want to help those who are struggling to raise children alone. Raising children is far more than bringing in an income, for the day to day struggles and triumphs often have nothing to do with income. That being said, a family cannot make it without income to provide for their needs and some of their wants as well. Circumstances that have happened to make a family a single mom family are not the fault of the children and often not of the single mother either. By providing grants for single mothers, the government, companies and schools are investing in the future, The future of the mother raising her family and the future of those children in the family as well. The children, when properly provided for, will grow up to be successful adults who will remember the help they were given and hopefully, in turn, be compassionate and helpful citizens. Grants for single mothers do far more than provide monetary assistance.
Visit to - http://aidforsinglemothers.blogspot.com
Tags - government grants single mothers, pell grant, obama college grants for single mothers, fafsa, federal supplemental educational opportunity grants, college grants for students, grants for college, pell grants single mothers.
No comments:
Post a Comment