Financial assistance is available to single parent/ low income families from various levels of government and private entities. Individuals who wish to further themselves academically, in order to gain employment to survive and support their families, frequently seek single parent school grants.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, single-parent families are more than twice as likely considered low-income as two-parent families. According to a 2007 report, 12.8 million children live in household with income below the poverty level. Combining low income with a one-parent family can indeed be a frustrating consideration for attending school. While single parent school grants are available from federal and/or state financial aid, they have not kept pace with the amount of grants and loans required to meet the rising cost of higher education.
According to a 2007 article in DivorceMagazine.com, the total number of single fathers now raising children under age 18 is 1,355,000. The total number of single mothers raising children under age 18 is 5,714,000 as of 2002. This is a phenomenal amount of parents under 18 who wish to attend college and have an equal chance at a career as their peers.
The first step to applying for a single parent school grant needs to be by filing for Free Application for Federal Student Aid as one source for federal and/or state funding online. By completing the FAFSA, the student can apply for:
- The Federal Pell Grant;
- Federal student loans (Stafford or Direct Lending); and
- Campus-Based aid (Federal Work Study, Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant, Perkins Loan).
Supplementary Single Parent School Grants
Specialists such as Terri Hare, senior financial aid administrator with nearly 25 years experience in the profession, have great background expertise and advice in managing finances as a single parent. No stranger herself to the world of single parent school grants, Terri completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degree as a non-traditional student, with a family and full time job. She did her master’s degree in Instructional Design and Technology primarily via online courses, and is familiar with the intricacies of balancing both a family as well as distance learning.
Terri advises that when you are setting up for a grant or scholarship, keep a notebook for three months prior to monitor your spending habits and eliminate any overspending. Single parent school grants may also need to go hand in hand with medical insurance aid and this is where foresight will count in your favour. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), through their Insure Kids Now! Program, offers free or low-cost child health insurance to qualifying families who do not have health insurance for their children.
The DHHS also has program benefits for low-income families to assist with heating and cooling costs. In addition to the savings you can make on your single parent school grants, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is designed to help families with elderly residents or small children where income is low and energy costs are high to avert safety risks incurred by unpaid bills.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is available to parents with children who struggle to provide for the family’s basic needs. TANF is a welfare system, which can be used in conjunction with your educational advancements. By being on this program while you are studying, you can set examples to other parents who may feel incapacitated by welfare to further themselves with applying for single parents school grants toward their independence also.
Other advice Terri suggests is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s program to increase home ownership and affordable housing. While you are studying its possible to offset housing costs and reducing rental. In addition to federal programs such as these, states offer living assistance, each one has different services, visit your local department to ascertain how these meet your criteria.
Single parent school grants are also available via non governmental organizations who offer additional services for low income families. CoAbode is such an example, offers shared housing. By creating a network of single mothers, each is matched via a profile to one another with the intent of pooling resources to make it easier to cope with the demands of single parenting.
The Sunshine Lady Foundation offers the Women’s Independence Scholarship Program to assist survivors of domestic violence, as does the Soroptomist and Project Single Moms. Their goals include providing single parent school grants via scholarships for women of domestic violence who want to further themselves academically.
2-1-1 is a free service for the community to access services such as food banks, utility assistance, housing, child care close to you. Another way to offset costs is to find your nearest food bank and of late the Young Men’s Christian Association & Young Women’s Christian Association provide temporary and permanent shelter to spouses with children, in particular those escaping dangerous or abusive situations. These associations also have employment services, job training, and literacy programs.
Beware of single parent school grant scams
In 2009, the Offfice Of Public Affairs sent out a press release issuing an FTC warning to consumers to be aware of an economic stimulus scam. At this time, there were many emails suggesting to individuals who were seeking single parent school grants and other forms of assistance that via the Web and in e-mail, scammers told consumers they could help them qualify for a payment from President Obama’s economic stimulus package.
Currently, some websites and articles still refer to these as being legitimate, whether they are still in circulation or not. Frequently, when people do not report grant scams they simply continue. The first warning sign is if they ask for your information and a small fee. E-mail messages may ask for bank account information so that the operators can ‘deposit consumers’ share of the stimulus directly into their bank account. ‘
When applying for single parent school grants be wary of such ploys. Scammers can drain consumers’ accounts of money and disappear. There are also fake e-mails ‘from’ government agencies asking you for information to “verify” that you qualify for a payment. The scammers use that information to commit identity theft and though some e-mail scams don’t ask for information, they provide links to find out how to qualify for funds. When clicking these links, consumers trying to apply for single parent school grants may download malicious software or spyware that can be used to make them a victim of identity theft.
“Web sites may advertise that they can help you get money from the stimulus fund. Many use deceptive names or images of President Obama and Vice President Biden to suggest they are legitimate. They’re not,” says Eileen Harrington, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Don’t fall for it. If you do, you’ll get scammed.”
Extracts from their press release warn individuals seeking sources for single parent school grants, that even sites asking for a small fee can cause credit card fraud. “Consumers who may already have fallen for these scams should carefully check their credit card bills for unauthorized charges and report the scam to the FTC,” Harrington said.
The Federal Trade Commission encourages consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices by reporting them. Keep an eye out for similar stunts on facebook suggesting ‘Free money from Obama’s US Government Grants’.
Other resources
The Wintergreen/Orchard House Scholarship Database is updated quarterly and linked to many other sites online who offer databases to search for single parent school grants, which they compile themselves such as:
- College Board’s Fund Finder;
- Scholarships.com LLC;
- Peterson’s Award Database;
- NextStudent; and
- CollegeData.
The WOH database lists awards from 1,924 sponsors. Other popular sites offering the WOH database include CollegeNET MACH25 and CollegeView. Note that the CollegeNet MACH25 interface to the WOH database is more a browsing interface than true search engine. This means students will not find it helpful to quickly identify the awards for which they qualify. CollegeView, on the other hand, offers a profile-based scholarship search in addition to the CollegeView scholarship directory.
Single parent school grants sources are plentiful online – and by asking your local college advisors and federal assistance programs. Be sure to stay careful while researching online and don’t give up if you loose out on one grant, apply for many and if you keep your chin up, the rewards will be well worth it!