Located in Atlanta, Ga., Spelman is historically a college for African American women, but nowadays it admits women of any race. It receives funding from the United Negro College Fund to help students with proven financial need, and it also administers its own grant programs to reward students for academic excellence.
Since 1985, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) has awarded over $100 million in financial assistance to over 28,000 black students. In addition to funding college education, UNCF also finances research and internship programs for African Americans.
The National Black Nurses Association has 14 different annual awards for African Americans enrolled in a four-year nursing program to advance their skills. To apply, you have to join the association and be in good academic standing.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants awards the Scholarship for Minority Accounting Students to encourage African Americans and other minority groups to choose accounting as their college major. This scholarship is merit-based.
The American Psychological Association offers the Deborah Partridge Wolfe International Fellowship to African American women. They must be psychology graduate or undergraduate students wanting to pursue their studies abroad.
The U.S. government administers the Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Academic Competitiveness Grant and SMART Grant to help low-income college students to pay for their education. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, "African American women experience some of the highest poverty rates in the United States." So, to say that these federal aid programs have a great potential to benefit them sounds like an accurate statement.
The first step is to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online or at the college you're applying. The application is available at fafsa.ed.gov. Once you complete the application, you'll be automatically considered for all the federal grant programs listed above.