College Grants for Single Mom

Yes, you need to fill out the FAFSA form online. You will need your basic personal information and your latest tax return information.

I would also suggest contacting the schools you are interested in, since most have a financial aid office that can answer your questions.

I don't know if it's legit or not, but I was on a couponing website yesterday and there was an ad for scholarships for moms, I thought about it, because there was a post here within the past few weeks about the same thing. It maybe worth googling and doing some research on.

When you register for college, get an appointment with the financial aid office. They can tell you about all sorts of grants and scholarships that most people don't know about. I ended up with a grant that was specifically designated for single mothers going to school part time. It paid for half of my tuition to an expensive private university! I simply filled out a one page form that didn't even ask about my grades, signed it, and the financial aid department took care of the rest.

Fafsa is mandatory

THEN your school MAY have programs (childcare, subsidized childcare -they cut your provider a check, sep from financial aid, womens & minorities department funding, etc.).

ALSO

www.fastweb.com has you answer a gazillion questions and it searches through next year's scholarships for ones you MAY qualify for (I tend to qualify for apx every 20 out of 50 that they send me) PLUS there are a lot they won't send you because the scholarship doesn't actually have the requirement that you're "x". Example, I apply for a masonic scholarship every year, because they don't require that you're a mason or job's daughter... but fastweb won't pull that one up for me, because in the religious affiliations I don't list "mason" or "job's daughter". It's a tiny scholarship ($50), but I apply and win at least 50 small scholarships... which adds up to a nice chunk of change. I typically win about 1:10 of the scholarships that I write for that are "private" (aka not connected with the school I attend).

ALSO be sure to look into both "student family housing" if you're in a university (usually townhomes or apartments... student housing that isn't dorms). As well as "income verified" housing AFTER you get your first "financial aid dispersement" letter that outline the money you will recieve.

Don't shy away from student loans, either. At typically 3% or less, they match INFLATION 99x out of 100, and count totally differently on your credit report than regular loans or credit cards. You don't have to pay them back while you're in school OR until 6mo after graduation AND you can get deferments on them when you're out of work (we had a 2 year deferment on my husbands loans because of financial problems, even though he was working).

DO NOT PAY FOR ANYTHING... any group or site that wants you to pay for free/ readily available information through your local library or sites like Fastweb is a scam.

DO arrange to pay your bills out 4 months AHEAD of time (so they don't just take it as a "big" one month payment). There can be a lag on your next financial aid check (esp at community colleges), so you want to not be banging on the desk in the financial aid office with an eviction notice in your hand because they're being slow issuing checks. Ditto, summer aid is usually smaller than any other 3 month quarter... so if you've got summer paid for ahead of time by paying 4mo in advance, you're golden.

Go to the FAFSA website fill out an application and wait till they respond, they will let you know easy as that.

Go to the local human services agency and talk to them. Since you are living with someone they may not let you have assistance based on your income alone. They may take both incomes as the family income. Laws have changed a lot since I went to school so I don't know what is expected now.

As for financial aid I would think you could get a lot more if you were living in married student housing on your own, plus you could get a monthly check from the state, food stamps, low income housing assistance, more financial aid, and lots of other benefits if you lived on your own.

The wonderful thing about living on campus in married/family housing is that before you get a cent of your financial aid they take out all the money for your rent and any other bills you have. If you live on campus they a re often all bills paid too.

Contact your local community college --they may have some programs to help you. You will need to fill out the FAFSA (financial aid form) to get started. Good luck to you for getting started with your education. You may have some road bumps along the way, but keep going and you will eventually make a better life for you and your child.