To qualify for any type of student aid, a single parent must fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Virtually all the accredited colleges, universities, and career schools in the United States use this form to determine if a student financially qualifies to get student aid, state aid or college aid.
Single parents can fill out a FAFSA form in three ways: online, a saved PDF file and on paper. Once the form is filled out, it can be sent or printed as requested by the various student aid, grant, and scholarships programs. Fill out a FAFSA form as soon as possible once the decision to go back to school is made.
Raise the Nation estimates that nearly 38 percent of single parent woman live at or below the federal poverty level. As a result, the majority of privately funded scholarship programs are geared toward single mothers, such as those offered by Raise the Nation. Some scholarship programs are designed to help battered and divorce single mothers. An excellent example of a scholarship program designed to help battered women become financially independent through education is the Women's Independence Scholarship Program (WISP) created by The Sunshine Lady Foundation (SLF) in 1999.
The federal government offers single parents college tuition through grants and reduced interest loan programs, based upon financial need. The National Pell Grant is the most popular form of student aid for single parents. Grant amounts reach up to $4,300 dollars and they do not have to be repaid.
The federal government also offers scholarship programs in areas where it feels there is a need for skilled workers. An example of the government using a scholarship program to promote a career path is the Health Profession Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds Scholarship. This scholarship provides educational funding for single parents who wish to enter the health-care profession.
Every state offers some type of educational funding for students. Most scholarships are geared toward economically challenged groups. An example of such a state scholarship fund is the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund. To qualify for this scholarship applicants must be single parents living in Arkansas.
The majority of educational institutions in the United States offer some type of internal scholarship or grant program, for more information contact the school’s financial aid office. Two such colleges in the Midwest are the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and Purdue University in Indiana. The College of DuPage Foundation Scholarship offers single parents an opportunity to apply for a $1,000 grant, while Purdue University’s Span Plan Adult Student Services Program provides grant assistance to adult single parents. The Span Plan offers to pay for the costs of a three credit hour class including the books for single parents.