College Scholarships for Single Mothers

Attending college should be within the scope of every individual. Because of the ever-increasing costs though, it is hard for many families to find the necessary funding to give their children the opportunity for a college education.

For single mothers however, the task becomes even more difficult, as they assume the responsibility of the parent and the child! Just because you are a single mother however, does not mean that this opportunity has passed you by. Lack of finance is never an excuse for missing out on a college education, because there is always financial help available, if you know where to look.

If you have no financial resources, then, you must consider applying for a college scholarship. For the purpose of this discussion, we will consider grants as well as scholarships.

Essentially, when you receive a college scholarship your college fees will be paid for you, and you will never have to pay those fees back to anyone. This being the case, you would be well advised to investigate all avenues for the possibilities of scholarships before looking into college loans. A loan could prove a millstone around your neck for many years to come.

If you do your research carefully, you’ll be able to find the money that you need to pay for at least some of your college education. Being a mom of course, does mean that you have other financial commitments as well as personal ones, so you should think the whole process through very carefully to make sure that you have all angles covered. You will need to cover child minding fees of course.

Great if you have relatives who can help, but be prepared for the to cover the cost if you don’t. Add to that the every day costs of raising a child, and you have what seems to be a daunting task ahead of you. Be prepared, but don’t give up!

The whole process of researching college scholarships or grants is a long and tedious one. Some scholarships require essays or other material you will need to provide for consideration, so be prepared to do some hard work. Having a scholarship sounds like a great idea, but if they were that easy to obtain, they would have no value.

You must be prepared to put in a lot of effort in the preparatory stages; effort that might possibly go unrewarded if you fail. However, the reward of obtaining a scholarship is too great to ignore, especially if your financial status means that you will have little or no chance of going to college otherwise.

Sources for finding out about scholarships are your high school guidance office, the Internet, the college aid office, you local library or town hall, local newspapers, and scholarship directories. Here are some web sites worth visiting:-

http://www.finaid.org/ – http://www.scholarships.com/

Another vital step is to fill out the FAFSA form, i.e., the Federal Application For Student Financial Aid document. It is like a tax document, which you fill it out with all your tax information and your plans for your further education.

But don’t let the technical nature of the document put you off. If you don’t understand it, ask for help, don’t give up. It is also possible now to file your FAFSA application online, which is a great convenience. It makes dealing with the form easier, because you can save it and go back and edit it as often as you like.

It also means that if your have knowledgeable friends or family elsewhere, they can go online and help you with it. Your financial aid office can also help file your FAFSA for you.

One of the best college scholarship grants available is that from the local government. It is difficult to give resources here for these, because there are so many local governments; each with different sets of rules to the other.

However, most will have their own web sites, so that is the first place to look. It would be probably best to search for the general term ‘grants’ or ‘scholarships’ first and refine your search from there. Whichever route you take, be prepared to persevere and to do some work to get the money you want. Local government will not release funds easily, and you will have to prove that you deserve it.

Then there are organizations that offer scholarships based on some affiliation that you have such as if you had a family member who fought in a foreign war. Did one of your parents fight for their country? If so, then that is one possible avenue to explore.

Whilst the main criteria for many of these scholarships is based on SATS scores, many have their basis on financial standing. So don’t feel that because you do not have the SAT requirements that your road to a scholarship is blocked – it might not be.

Whilst many of these schemes are geared to the high school graduate, you should still be prepared to state your case to try and obtain funding. You may be a single mom, but you still deserve to complete your education, the same as everyone else.

Single mothers should not feel victimised through circumstance. Find out how to improve the life of you and your child.

About the Author

Charlie Cory is a computer consultant and an Internet Niche Marketer. He runs several websites and has written published articles on a variety of subjects. Charlie Cory may be contacted at http://www.magical-marketing.biz