Government Education Grants For Women
If you are looking to further your education beyond high school, then you will need to work out how you are going to pay for it. Education can be expensive, but it will help you be more successful in the long run. Managing the cost of your education can be difficult so finding federal student aid can be an immense help. This aid can be found as educational grants, loans or work study programs and will help you pay for your college tuition fees, study supplies costs, transport costs and living expenses.
Government education grants do not have to be repaid whereas loans do, but federal loans are attractive for their low interest rates and flexible repayment terms. Work study programs provide part time jobs for students in financial difficulty so they can earn some money to help pay for their education. The work would be in the community and related to your study course if possible.
Looking for Government education grants for women can be a long task but the following excellent resources should help speed up your search.
Federal Student Aid
The US Department of Education student aid programs offer the biggest source of funding for students, but they are not the only source. Find out if you are eligible, but if not, you should contact your college to inquire about non federal financial assistance and scholarships.
The main Student Aid Government grants for education are as follows:
- Federal Pell Grant – you can receive up to $5,550 annually if you are in exceptional financial need and do not already have a degree.
- Academic Competitiveness Grant – up to $750 is available if you graduated from high school in the last four years, completed rigorous secondary education, are in exceptional financial need and are enrolled at least part time. The annual award increases to $1300 if you are in your second year and got a 3.0 GPA in your first year.
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant – again if you are in exceptional financial need you can be given up to $4,000 if your college participates in this program.
- National SMART Grant –SMART means Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent and under this program you can be awarded up to $4,000 if you are in your third or fourth year of an eligible degree such as maths or computer sciences and your GPA is 3.0. You must also have exceptional financial need as for each education grant.
- TEACH Grant – TEACH stands for Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education and this program is open to those studying to be elementary or secondary teachers. Grantees must agree to work full time in a high need field in a school for low income students for at least four years.
State Student Aid
State government also offers financial assistance for students. Contact your state higher education agency for more details.
Student Grants for Study Overseas
If you are looking to study overseas, Boren Awards may be for you. They provide up to $20,000 to undergraduate students to study in countries such as Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East, as these areas of the world are critical to US interests and the national security program. Unfortunately no such monies are available for students wishing to study in Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These awards will be of interest to you if you are hoping to study less commonly taught languages, such as Arabic and Chinese. When applying you will need to show how your studies and future career will contribute to national security, whose scope is now very broad and includes things like global diseases and economic competitiveness.
Foundation Grants For Individuals
The Foundation Center runs an online database of many thousand grant programs that offer funds to students, artists, researchers, and other individual grant seekers. The database includes amongst other things information on educational support, arts awards and research support. There is a monthly subscription of nearly $20 per month to use the database but paying for one month would give quick and easy access to their many grant programs.
Good luck with finding funding for your education. Once you have achieved your goals, don’t forget to look for any government grants for women in business that you may be eligible for.