President Obama has wants those numbers to increase. He has urged every American to commit themselves to at least one year of higher education. And, to sweeten the deal, his American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has increased funding to the federal financial aid programs and has opened eligibility to cover more people. This is great news for the nation's mothers who wish to go to college.
The financial aid comes in 3 different forms. ARRA has broadened the benefits of two of these types: grants and loans. Grants are monetary benefits provided to individuals or organizations and are "need based" (dependant upon the applicant's financial situation). Grants do not need to be repaid.
Student loans are issued through the government, a bank, or private institutions. These tuition benefits need to be repaid. Loans can be either subsidized or unsubsidized. A subsidized loan disregards the accumulated interest while the student is still in school (i.e. the interest rate is 0% until the student graduates or drops out). Unsubsidized loans do not offer this protection. Interest accrues immediately.
Scholarships are the Holy Grail in the financial aid game. Scholarships are tuition awards granted to students based on a set of standards set by those who donate the money. They can be merit based, need based, issued by private companies, issued by universities, and based on sociology. Sociology based scholarships award tuition to students because of gender, race, religion, or nationality. These are the type of scholarships aimed at mothers.
The best place to start is to fill out the Free Application for Student Aid found in every college financial aid office. Then run independent searches. With a little research, you too can go to college.
Article Source: http://www.goarticles.com
