July 15, 2010

Different Financial Aid Sources for Single Parents

It seems like summer just started but we all know back to school is right around the corner. Not only do elementary and high school kids go back to school, but millions of adults (especially single parents) make the decision to re-enter college after a few years to continue their education.

Sometimes there is confusion about the kind of funding available for non-traditional students so here are a few sources to think about when you are applying for financial aid.

Sometimes, all it takes is a little creative thinking and knowledge about the many sources of educational funding.

State assistance
Each state has tuition assistance in the form of grants or scholarships for students. It could be need or non-need based. Many states have a lottery that is primarily for education. This lottery funds what many states call the HOPE scholarships or HOPE grants.

The scholarship criteria usually require that you have a 2.50 GPA or better and will cover the cost of tuition and books. The grant criteria are usually less strict. You may only have to prove residence and be getting a technical certificate. If your state has a lottery, check the state’s department of education website for more information.

Federal assistance
The best known source of free federal assistance is the Pell grant and SEOG grants. There is more information about them in coming pages.

Association assistance
Many associations provide grants to members and their families. You may not be a direct member but if your parents or grandparents were you may be eligible to receive a scholarship from the organization.

Some associations do not require membership. Instead they may award monies to local residents or based on academic achievement.

Foundation assistance
Foundations are much like associations. There are thousands of foundations, many geared toward women. You can search for foundations online or through your local library. In any search you have to do, your resource librarian is your best friend. Use this person to learn about the organizations in your city or state as well as the country.

Corporate assistance
Corporations are a great source of college assistance. Some companies require that you or your parents work for them. Other corporations, much like associations simply require you have exceptional academic achievement.

Public and private corporations have scholarships. Most major department stores have a foundation and award monies to deserving students. Target, Wal-mart, and Macy’s are just a few major companies that award scholarships each year.

Another way companies are providing educational assistance is through tuition reimbursement programs. Your company may have a program like this so check with human resources or the training department to find out.

Typically the company will reimburse your tuition and book expenses at the end of each semester or quarter. You must submit your course schedule and receipts to the appropriate office to get your money back.

Contests
There are hundreds of contests each year where the prize is scholarship money for college. The contests range from writing essays to random entries to lottery style.

Many people are intimidated by contests because they think they will never win. The key is to enter as many as you qualify for and have faith you will win at least one if not more.

Institutional assistance
Colleges provide institutional grants to help make up the difference between college costs and what a single mom can be expected to contribute through income, savings, loans, and student earnings.

Other institutional grants, known as merit awards or merit scholarships, are awarded on the basis of academic achievement. Some merit awards are offered only to single moms who demonstrate financial need; others are awarded without regard to a person's finances.

Some grants come with special privileges or obligations. You'll want to find out about the types of grants awarded by each college you are considering.

Former students, alumni, and family members of students often set up scholarship funds to help new students of the institutions.

The scholarship may require you declare a certain major, have a certain GPA, be needs based, or some other criteria.

Certain academic departments may offer grants and scholarships so be sure to check with the head of the department or the website.

Even though there are many sources for financial assistance, it takes work to find them and apply for them before the deadline.

It takes organization and patience as well.

Giving up too soon could mean the loss of potentially thousands of dollars.

If you want more details about how to get grant and scholarship money for college look at these other resources:
The Single Mom Grant Guide

June 3, 2010

College Scholarships for Single Moms Require Planning

Education is becoming more and more expensive as time unfolds. For this reason, a number of students are applying for scholarships to supplement their financial needs in school.

One good thing is that there are already various scholarships which are made available today to assist these students. There are the government, individuals, non-profit organizations, private organizations, who augment in granting scholarships.

However, not all are familiar on the ways to access information in applying for these scholarships. Basically, the following are the possible resources you can use in finding the process for scholarship application:

First, you can use the search engines in college scholarships.

Try to visit the free sites that link to scholarships research websites and databases. This tool is convenient for most as compared to the others sources since this can save both time and money.

You can just simply match your profile to numbers of scholarships where you think you qualify. Another advantage in using the college scholarship search engines is that it is always updated. Hence, this can have access to the most recent grants and financial aids made free on the Internet.

You can also link to the other sources. You can inquire through the local community and civic organizations, as well as in police departments and local fire department in your area; they might be offering college scholarships.

Also, the majority of the state governments extend financial assistance to in-state students. Hence, you can take advantage to the local assets.

Most often, the best scholarships are offered to students who excel in the fields of writing, science, math, music, sports as such. These types of scholarships although do not require high grades, a GPA of 2.0 will do. They commonly base on the students character, conditions and testimonials as to why you feel legible for the scholarship.

Also, do not expect that you can get the full scholarship by simply placing your time and effort only in one or two particular programs.

Keep in mind, that applying for college scholarship is merely a numbers game. So, it is best that you apply for more scholarships to be assured that you will succeed in one or more of them.

Now, after finding your prospective scholarship in either of the mentioned resources, you should then be able to know the process for college application next.

These are the ways to ensure your success in getting a college scholarship:

Search early. Majority of the scholarships are open for a definite time period. The scholarship will close after the process of application, then, you have to wait for another year to file your application again.

When you start your search early, you will not just be able to find the best scholarships; also, you will be able to apply for more scholarships, which will give you more chance of winning or more of them.

Be careful in reading the requirements. Remember, out of the large numbers of the scholarship, only a few of it will suit to your qualification. So, read carefully the qualifications set for the scholarships that you are applying for. And if they do not fit to your qualification, try looking for another one.

Complete the requirements. Just when you start for the application, you must have readied the requirements already. It is not advisable that you will wait for your sponsor to ask you for it before you arrange it.

Most of all, submit your application early, and anticipate that you will be considered as one of the scholars of the sponsor.

May 3, 2010

Hispanic Single Moms Qualify for College Scholarships

Hispanic students are presented with a number of college scholarships.

Hispanic students along with their families are greeted with a wonderful start in fall when the Hispanic organizations announce that they will be funding guidelines and plans for the entire school year.

This occasion coincide with the time where Hispanic families are conducting their searches for a means to pay the expensive amount of college education for their kids.

Mainly, only the Hispanics that are College bound will be benefited by the said program.

Now, students may go frenzy when selecting which college programs to take, plus also, the number of students who have stopped for a year that are planning to go back to school.

Really, this is not the first time this occurrence has happened. Scholarships are universally popular in providing the disadvantaged and the financially handicapped students an opportunity.

The big Corporations have established themselves in providing scholarships for hispanic students, included here are Coors, General Motors, CNN, MasterCard, Lockheed Martin, Sallie Mae, Wachovia, Office Depot and Time Warner.

But questions may arise. Why do these benevolent companies fund hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide Latino Scholarships? What will they get from these Hispanic students?

The answer is not just confided into one, they support the presented programs for Hispanic scholarship founded by the Latino organizations like the National Association of the Hispanic Journalists, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and National Hispanic Scholarship, majority of them yield from public relations and the positive society results generated by the programs.

For numerous years, the Latinos as a consumer have become progressively more acculturated into America's lifestyle mainstream. A few of them have fixed a good place in influencing the public and private sectors, while the others adds to the classy consumers.

Part of the development is rooted from the growing awareness of some Latinos who have been ignored to the point of receiving undeserved treatment from lots of companies. This fact goes though since the Census last 2000 mark them as the clients of their goods and services.

Also, the Hispanic purchasing power is rising, for this reason, the conversationalists and the marketers have started to take advantage of the prospects and escalation of the Hispanic markets.

This is because of the estimate of the Multicultural Economy on year 1900-2009 as reported by the Selig Center for Economic Growth ranges to almost $700 billion annually.

Thus, the thousands of dollars funded for Hispanic scholarship is nothing as compared to the purchasing power of these future consumers. Not just that, the scholarship beneficiaries may also join the labor force in the near future.

According to the critics, there is the rising situation wherein the scholarship provided for the Latinos are too much, as fitted to the number of students in need. However, this is countered by the theory that the Hispanic students who graduate and later joins the labor force of the Americans also produces the same program.

But anyhow, the only thing that matters is that the Hispanic students are given more chances to pursue their college education, through the rise of the benefactors and donors.

Meanwhile, the effects will be the same, the Latinos who graduates gives gratitude to the company who have helped them to finish their higher education.

If you want more details about how to get grant and scholarship money for
college look at these other resources:

The Single Mom Grant Guide

April 3, 2010

Single Moms Get a Fresh Start with Scholarship Money

So you are already a high school graduate, of course the mark of happiness and fulfillment can still be traced on your face. However, you need to accept the fact that entering the portals of college is not as easy as you may think it is.

The preparation for college requires lots of effort to the point of giving you loads of stress if you will not be able to distinguish the best strategies to take.

First, you will be selecting the course that you want to take, you need to meet the hassles in taking the entrance examinations, the perplexity in choosing which school you would like to attend, not just that, you still have to consider its standards.

But the greatest stress is rooted from the expenses that you will need to be able to take the course that you want, and to be able to enter the institution with a good standard of teaching. You have to consider before anything else your parent's capacity to pay your education.

But don't fret if you think money will be a hindrance in pursuing your college education. Several types of scholarships are being offered to assist the financially unprivileged students. There are several public and private organizations, federal and state, college and university, that offer scholarship in different forms.

Chiefly, scholarship is a form of monetary gift which is awarded and is founded on the academic merits. For this reason the eligibility of the student definitely matters.

There is a Freshman Honor Scholarship, this is funded by organizations which grant scholarship to those students who are by far excelling in the class and were able to gain honors.  The requirements may come in separate application form, while there are others that do not.

There is also a Presidential Scholarship, majority of its beneficiaries are incoming honors college students. Likewise, the valedictorians and salutatorians of accredited high school may able to receive this scholarship.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Scholarship is renewable for eight semesters, depending on the result of the annual review. This covers 50 percent of in-state or out-of-state tuition, although this does not comprise the fees. Likewise, this specifically covers the entire tuition/fees including room and board.

The sole requirement for this scholarship is a minimum 3.0 GPA a student must maintain. No more application is necessary.

Meanwhile, the students who weren't accepted in the Freshman Honor Scholarship may take their chances on the Presidential Scholarship. Unlike the former, the Presidential Scholarship select the scholars by committee and is founded not solely on academic ability, but also on creativity,  character, and impending for leadership.

Those students who qualify in Freshman Honor College will be sent the materials for application. The process of application only evolves in written application, then the on-campus conversation follows with the program's director or a committees representative, and the last, a spontaneous essay.

The entire applicants are responsible for submitting the complete applications to the programs director. The deadline is set on the mid of January. The nominations from the school will not be received as well as the applications.

The finalists of this scholarship will be given notice on or before the 31st of January to schedule an on-campus visit. The interviews must be accomplished by March 1.

These are only some of the available scholarships being offered for an incoming freshman in college. There are still several of these, you can try to visit another sites to have a thorough knowledge about them.

If you want more details about how to get grant and scholarship money for
college look at these other resources:

The Single Mom Grant Guide

March 3, 2010

5 Ways Single Moms Can Find Free Scholarship Money

Year in and year out, fresh graduates from high schools all over America have the same problem finding a free scholarship for college. While for those who have gone to private schools, money won't seem to be a problem as their parents could probably afford it. But for the millions of kids that go to public schools, this is a problem that has hounded them for years.

Many of these kids don't even bother thinking about college. Most of them just get jobs and think about their independence. But how many of them do actually succeed and lead comfortable lives and get good earning jobs?

The chances are very slim. Getting a good college degree is the key to expedite the climb to the corporate ladder plus, they also get the much needed knowledge to be competitive in the work force. The diploma is not just a piece of paper that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, the education that comes with those four years of hard work and great college fun is what you invest in.

But did you know that many college students from all over the country have been receiving scholarship money amounting to billions of dollars every year? This money comes from different sources and are divided up by many college students to get a free scholarship for college.

So the next question would be, how will you be able to get your hands into some of this money to finance your college education? Here are some steps many experts have recommended.

1. Start your early.

Don't wait until you are in your senior year to find the source of these free scholarships. Even though you are just a junior, even in your sophomore year in high school, you should be able to start looking. There are even scholarships that are already awarded to junior year high school students. The first place you should go to look for these scholarships is in the counseling office of your high school. Then follow it up at the college financial aid office. You may also try the local community and civic organizations in your area. The Department of Education from your state is also a good place for inquiries. An dof course, the Internet.

2. Never stop looking for free scholarships.

Some scholarships are only good for a year or two. The more back up scholarship programs you have the more likely you will be able to finish your degree.

3. Hone your skills and interests.

There are many scholarship grantees that focuses on a persons skills, particular interest, ethnicity, athletic and extracurricular achievements or religion, so even if you do not have the highest academic distinction in your class, you still have a chance to be a scholar.

4. Be prompt with the deadlines

Note the dates when you have to pass your requirements, being late in your submission is as good as not submitting at all.

5. Grab every opportunity.

Apply for every scholarship program that you think you may qualify for. You may not pass in all of them, but at least you have other options.

Beware of the many scams in the Internet; if a website is charging you, this is likely just a con to get some money. Be relentless in your search and you will get that college degree you need with a college free scholarship.

If you want more details about how to get grant and scholarship money for
college look at these other resources:

The Single Mom Grant Guide

February 3, 2010

Tips for Single Moms Searching for Scholarships

The myriad applications on online transactions extend to the colleges and universities expansion of services. Both connections are working for the benefit of the student population. Since the use of the web has been a rudimentary tool for learning - as used by students for research or for online education - it is a smart evolution to link college recruiting scholarship agencies to the net.

After a long period of internet marketing, online recruitment has alleviated the processes of searching for college scholarships, dropping the conventional falling in a long line and standing the heat, sweat and slow processes. Thus, switching from one recruitment company to another is just some clicks away. Not to mention that this is all for free - free from transportation expenses and quotation fees.

This makes it possible that at one time, you are studying the system in a particular scholarship grant of a university and all at once move to another. Then, you can easily compare the benefits, tuition and miscellaneous fees and the governing regulations of the different institutions.

The internet had provided free recruiting companies with credible information. All you had to do is find the directory of those with intellectual property rights and trademarks among the queue of names. Although certain procedures had been taken into account to filter the yellow pages of scams, the student must also be meticulous in choosing where to submit the scholarship grant application. Surely, no one would want his efforts to be wasted.

The online college scholarship recruiting companies offers many advantages. University visits are facilitated while they have the convenience of their privacy. In addition, instant answers are posted even before a query could be made because of FAQ links provided. Navigating the web also introduces other students to other places who are benefited of the scholarship, faculties and sponsoring individuals or companies.

When you have done enough surfing, you are ready to fill up an application form. This is of course after meeting the requirements of the scholarship grant that you intend to apply. The requirements are usually posted together with the ads of the scholarship recruitment company. Certain eligibility factors are considered in online college recruitment just like in the typical process. If you know that you are qualified in the standards set by the board, then there ís no reason to delay the application.

When submitting an application, make sure that you have attached with it the necessary documents. Incompletion of the requirements can lead to disqualification or avoidance. In any way, you will receive a notice of acceptance or of denial of your application. If your application had been approved, well, congratulations then. It's an achievement credited to you. But if your application has been denied, better try the next one. It's all about persevering to achieve your goals, after all that is one principal quality of a scholar.

Because the college scholarship recruiting company aims to establish a connection between the student and the university, it also has the responsibility to present the admission process. Necessary information such as dates of enrollment, start of classes and orientation should be laid at the bulletin boards. 

All these advantages are laid bare in the net. All you have to do is extend a little effort and scrutinize the validity of the recruiting company. All these sum up to the campaign of education for all.

If you want more details about how to get grant and scholarship money for
college look at these other resources:

The Single Mom Grant Guide

January 3, 2010

How Can Single Moms Get Free Money for College? Apply Early

When you hear the word scholarship, what usually comes in to your mind? Many answers would be 'education'. Education is indeed vital. Through education, you are able to discover things that you never imagined possible for you to learn. While many single moms are struggling to get the best education, sometimes the costs that comes along with it discourages them especially if they can't afford the very high tuition fees.

When single moms go to school, they not only have to think of the tuition fees, but also of other school fees that need to be settled. They also have to consider the daily expenses, their food, and many other things which require them to spend money. And this is probably the reason why many of them consider dropping out of school.

Putting an end to education at early detrimental to you and your children's futures. This sad fact is experienced by millions of people around the world because you are financially unstable. Not only are you stripped of your future career, but also stuck in that difficult situation all their life. Without proper education, they cannot fulfill their dreams.

Scholarships awarded to qualified students are a great way to help financially incapable individuals. Aside from scholarships, grants are also given to some students who passed excel and were able to find sponsors. These two options attract many students to apply and get free money to help them go through their college life.

Different states fund different scholarships. And within the state, there are private institutions, employers, educational institutions, and professional associations which help in funding grants and scholarships.

To be eligible for a scholarship, you must pass the following requirements:

-    academic performance
-    financial need
-    athletic achievement
-    minority status
-    religious affiliation
-    community affiliation
-    heritage
-    set of unique criteria of a particular organization that provides the fund

You have to start searching for that scholarship early, and you must be diligent and focused. Remember that every year, you need to make an application for the scholarship.

If you're planning to go to college with a scholarship, you must familiarize yourself with the different requirements, how to go about your scholarship application, avoid scholarship scams, get a good help with scholarship essays, and see featured scholarship programs especially on the net.

You have to be honest when you're searching or applying for a college scholarship. You should also be organized and be able to follow certain instructions properly and carefully. Before submitting your application, you must first proofread. You must have your own copy of the papers that you've sent, and be sure to send it through registered mail.

If you follow these things, you will find yourself a scholarship in no time at all. As mentioned earlier, you should stay away from any possible scholarship scam that might come your way. If a certain individual offers you hard to resist applications but you're doubtful all the while, then trust your instincts and avoid them.

So, if you want free money, apply now for a college scholarship. It's your ticket to earning a degree in college. You will be most proud if you are able to pursue your studies independently.

If you want more details about how to get grant and scholarship money for
college look at these other resources:

The Single Mom Grant Guide