After I graduated from highschool, I immediately got married to my highschool sweetheart. We started a family and I have been a housewife ever since then. Now that my kids are grown, I have decided to go back to school and get the degree that I have always wanted. The only problem with this idea was that our family does not have the money for me to pursue higher education. My husband works at a low paying job and the income barely supports our household.
I had pretty much given up on the idea of ever going back to school due to our financial situation. Then a friend told me to apply for school grants for women. By applying for these grants, I would be able to get free money so that I can attend college. At first I did not know where to begin to find these grants but my friend told me to search online since there is a lot of information about this. After doing a lot of research, I found several avenues for applying for grants.
The federal government offers grants to those people that want to go back to school and are from low income families. It is called the Pell grant and is based on the income and assets of the family. You can apply for this grant through FAFSA which is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Other than applying for federal grants for women to go back to school, you can also find grants given by private organizations. One of this is the Jeanette Rankin Foundation. This organization awards money to low income women who are at least 35 years old and getting an undergraduate degree.
There are also many grants that are field specific. For example, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship Grant is available for women pursuing majors in science or math. The American Socity of Women Accountants gives grants and scholarships to women who pursue finance or accounting degrees. You could also ask about grants that your specific college may provide.
In the end, I was able to get several grants and scholarships which helped pay the cost of going back to school. The best way to get grants is to apply to as many as possible.
