subject: President Obama Urges All Mothers To Go Back To School - Learn About His Scholarship Program [print this page] Recently, President Obama has urged all Americans to acquire at least 1 year of higher education. And, he has made education easier to be obtained through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Part of the ARRA revamps funding for higher education, making grants, loans, and scholarships easier to achieve while increasing the cash value of these financial aids. These changes have made a college degree more accessible for mothers (single or married) than ever before.
According to the US Census, 18.4 million students are enrolled in college across the nation and 70% of them are partially paying for their education with scholarships, grants, and other forms of financial aid. Rarely do these aids cover 100% of the expenses, but without them few would be able to obtain a higher education.
Financial aid comes in three forms: grants, scholarships, and loans. A grant is money provided by individuals or organizations (usually federal or state government) for school. Typically, grants are "need based," meaning that eligibility is determined by the applicant's financial situation.
A scholarship is a monetary award granted to students based upon standards set by those who donate the money. Scholarships are categorized by these standards: merit, need, sociology, institutional, general.
The most common type of scholarship is merit based. In a merit based scholarship, money is given to students who excel in academics, athletics, or the arts. Need based scholarships are like grants in that they are only available to financially challenged students.
Sociology based scholarships are offered to students based upon gender, race, religion, or nationality. These are mostly offered by the private sector. It is in the sociology category that you will find organizations providing scholarships to young mothers, single mothers, older women, and African American women.
Institutional based scholarships are monies offered by colleges and universities to attract a certain class of student. The scholarship labelled "General" includes money offered by companies or corporations to children of their employees.
The best way to start a quest for financial aid is to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). From there, run a search for all scholarship categories that apply to you. Once you obtain the funding you need, you too can be one of the nation's proud college graduates.
