subject: Education Is Top Priority: Obama Grants [print this page] Taking advantage of educational opportunities is a smart way to be successful. Since his campaign to become President, Barack Obama has made education a key issue. Grants and scholarships are just the beginning of efforts to try to make over higher education.
College expenses continue to increase even as the economy slumps. Besides tuition and housing, fees for books, travel and eating are often not covered. Unfortunately some students turn away from higher education because it's too expensive. Single, working moms are a big section of this group. Educating women and single moms is important to increase the workforce and help provide for children and families. The President believes in this and has begun a mission to create scholarships for moms. Although they are the same, many people refer to Federal Pell grants as Obama grants. These grants award a student over $5,000 to go to college. This is an increase of $1,000 over the previous maximum, and the goal is to help working mothers return to school. These grants can be used to cover many of the miscellaneous college expenses.
There's also another great program: the American Opportunity Tax Credit. With this tax credit, the first $4,000 of college expenses are free. This is a worthy incentive, especially for schools that are less expensive. Both of these tax programs help single moms tremendously because they are traditionally low-income individuals. There are almost no restrictions on where and what a student studies. With more incentives, more ambitious adults will realize their goal to get a college degree.
Obama's efforts to improve education show that he takes this issue seriously. The new stimulus package has some benefits for potential college students. In addition, the government is focusing on helping schools improve teaching and students improve performance. The President believes community colleges need to become viable options. At a community college students can gain important knowledge as well as save money.
In his Reclaiming the American Dream speech in 2007, Obama said, "We need to put a college education within reach of every American. That's the best investment we can make in our future." The President's actions are reflecting his words. Grants for moms are just a small but vital part of the education mission. If you're a potential student who wants to make education a priority, there are many chances for you to do so.
