Scholarship News

Single mothers are returning to college in droves. With that return comes unique challenges and hurdles that women need to overcome. Student loans for single parents returning to school can be both confusing and overwhelming if some basic processes aren’t followed.

The majority of single parent women work full time with an estimated 45.5% working multiple jobs to make ends meet. They are juggling childcare costs, which eats up about 1/3 of their weekly salary. Nearly 38% of single mothers are head-of-household holding down everything on their own. Many live at or below the federal poverty level, and education provides a way for them to both advance in their jobs and provide a better level of living for their families. In spite of these difficulties many single parent women return to school while working full time. It also means that they have little to know time to fill out a bunch of forms.

As with everyone, the place to start is the FASFA organization which has streamlined the process and taken it online. This means that applying can be accomplished 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Internet. Via a secured website located at www.fasfa.gov, women can apply in the middle of the night while their children sleep. Filling out the FASFA form is the first step towards accessing the finances of the single mother and ascertaining how much help is needed to allow her to pursue her dream. The EFC or Expected Family Contribution can be computed and then applications for other grants and loans can be implemented. In addition to the Stafford, Perkins and Sallie Mae loans, there are also many other loans and grants available.

There are a number of good websites offering information on loans, grants and scholarships like http://oedb.org/loan/single-parent and http://www.raisethenation.org/.

For instance, Raise The Nation is an organization that offers a number of different scholarships that are viable alternatives to student loans for single parents returning to school.

They are offering a new scholarship based on a scoring system developed by their Board of Directors. Its application process will allow awards for higher scholarship and grant amounts to applicants. They also have a Student Loan Repayment Grant that is awarded to professional single parent women with outstanding student loan debt who contribute through volunteer work. Their Scholarship For Continuing Education is available to single parent women who would like to continue with their education, but have been denied sufficient resources. The “Child of a Single Parent Woman Scholarship” is designed to reduce the financial burden of paying for college that single parent women face when they still have minor children.

Another example of an organization available for single parents is Chase Bank who offers the Chase Education One Continuing Education Loan, which is similar to the Sallie Mae loan but it’s available to single parents who can only attend school part time. With approved credit or a cosigner, these single parent student loans can be obtained in sums of up to $30,000 per academic year.

Like anything, there are a number of grants, loans and scholarships out there for single mothers trying to continue their education. It is just a process of getting started with the application process at FASFA, taking the suggestions given to everyone including the Stafford, Perkins and LoanPlus loans and looking around through Google, Ask.com and others for grants and scholarships tailored to particular needs. One would be surprised at the amount of aid available with a little research.

For more information on student loans and scholarships for single mothers, visit http://www.student-loan-zone.com