Do you want to find grants for women? Depending on your purpose, this can be easy or difficult.
If your purpose is to get a college education, finding scholarships and tuition grants is easy.
(Mind you, qualifying for them is another matter altogether.
) Grants for women entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are rather scarce.
Government grants for women come in two flavors - educational and non-educational.
Examples of educational grants include the Pell Grant, FSEOG, TEACH, and Nursing Scholarship Program.
The Pell, FSEOG and TEACH programs come under the Department of Education, and can be applied through the FAFSA system.
The Nursing Scholarship Program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration, and must be applied through their website.
However, it still needs you to first fill in the FAFSA form.
Except for TEACH, all of the above are needs-based federal government grants.
That means they are intended to help those with financial get a college education, especially women and minorities who are usually sidelined in the workforce.
These education grants are also for senior women, because there are no explicit age restrictions in the qualifying rules.
Many single moms have a heavy financial load because they have to support their families.
For them to be able to go to college, they need more than just tuition grants.
Most need financial aid for their families so that they do not have to work overtime.
They can apply for the SNAP food stamp (Department of Agriculture) and Section 8 housing subsidy vouchers (Department of Housing and Urban Development) from the federal government.
Whether or not these programs can be considered grants is arguable.
However, what is not arguable is that they have helped many a low-income single mother family survive.
The federal government is not the only source of educational and financial aid for women.
Many state governments run their own educational and financial assistance programs in parallel with the federal government.
Many state governments award their own versions of the Pell, TEACH and NSP scholarships.
They also run their own food assistance and housing subsidy programs.
Individual states have their own application procedures, and the departments which administer the grants also vary.
For example, many educational scholarships are administered by the state's Education Board.
But New York specially set up a non-profit company to handle the administration.
For most of those with a demonstrated financial need, federal and state aid is sufficient to help them.
But it is true that some will still fall through the cracks.
For example, one common rule for federal scholarships is that the applicant must not owe the government any money (the details vary according to the program applied for).
Those in this unfortunate situation need help from other sectors.
Fortunately, Americans are a generous lot (in the past).
Many charities exist to help specialized demographics (e.
g.
charities for women, charities for single mothers, charities for blacks, etc.
) If you are a single mother needing money for vocational training from a community college, you can apply for a grant from the Jeannette Rankin Foundation or the Philanthropic Educational Organization, among others.
If you are black, the United Negro College Fund administers over 400 scholarships and internships for the needy.
Not only that, they directly subsidize the operations of 39 HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), enabling these colleges to offer a national level education while charging a lower tuition fee.
If you are a woman, and you need to find financial assistance to help you attend college, all you need to do is keep your eyes and ears open as well as have the courage to speak up.
It is easy enough to find federal aid, and state aid just needs a little bit more work.