Grants for single mothers
What is a grant, anyways?
Grants By Type
- Government Grants
- College Grants
- Financial Aid & Academic Scholarships
- Housing Grants
- Business Grants
- Minority Grants
- Personal Grants
- Daycare Grants
- Military Grants
Being a single mother can be as challenging as it is rewarding. Single-parent households often have lower income than their two-parent counterparts, and finances can create emotional as well as monetary strain on busy, single mothers.
Fortunately, many organizations, both government and private, offer grants that can help. Usually these grants provide money in varying amounts, but all with the same intention to help single mothers alleviate hardships, become self-sufficient and ultimately advance their incomes and well-being.
What is a grant, anyways?
A grant is a gift from one person or group to another person or group. Because a grant is a gift, the recipient doesn’t have to pay the money back.
In almost all cases, the goal of a grant is to accomplish something good. That means the person or group giving the grant hopes that the person who receives the gift will be able to accomplish something positive. Some reasons for giving a grant might be so that a person can attend school, learn new job skills, pay basic living expenses, or help the less fortunate.
Grants By Type
Usually the person or group that offers the grant wants to help someone with a specific kind of problem. Other times, the grantor wants to help a person who has suffered a particular hardship. Grants can be categorized based on the type of assistance they provide or the characteristics of the person who receives it.
1. Government Grants
Usually government grants help with an immediate need, like food. Most of the time, the government does not directly give a single mother food, but rather gives the mother a debit card that she can use to buy food for herself and for her children. Usually the mother’s income and the number of children she cares for determine the amount of the food assistance she receives.
In additional to food, government grants for single mothers can include health care. Because the children of single mothers often do not receive employer-sponsored health care, governments grant single mothers and their children health insurance for a variety of procedures. Governments usually grant health care to single mothers based on the mother’s income and number of children.
2. College Grants
Both governments and private organizations offer college grants for single mothers. The U.S. Pell Grant Program offers need-based grants to students of all kinds, including single mothers. The amount of this grant varies, and can be up to $5,775 (as of 2015). The amount each person receives depends on multiple factors, including the cost to attend school, the student’s income, and whether the student attends school full or part time.
Many universities and educational organizations also offer tuition grants. Some of these organizations commit to meeting 100 percent of demonstrated student need. Usually, a single mother who is seeking a college grant completes an application process, either with or in addition to their application for admission to study.
Like government grants, the amount an educational institution grants a single mother depends on her income, the cost of study, and whether the mother is a full or part-time student. Schools often waive application fees for low-income or high-performing students.
3. Financial Aid & Academic Scholarships
Public and private organizations offer school-related aid beyond traditional grants. Sometimes, this includes academic scholarships. If a single mother is academically talented or applies with outstanding credentials, the university or other organization may offer her a scholarship. Educational organizations often offer scholarships to attract the best students to their schools.
Most of the time, a student does not need to complete a separate application for a scholarship, but some scholarships require interviews or competitive on-campus activities. Schools sometimes offer activity-specific scholarships, like athletic scholarships or music scholarships. Often times, private donors work with universities and educational institutions to offer scholarships to students from a particular background or who choose a certain field of study.