GUIDE

TO COLLEGES FOR MOTHERS

Go to:  Search for Colleges

Financial Aid FAFSA forms: fafsa.ed.gov

Scholarship information:   Go to:  The College Mom Magazine and click on Scholarship Page Also go to the Map Search of Colleges and click on your individual state to find scholarships at each university

Introduction to the College Guide

For information about The Katherine Arnoldi Scholarship Fund for Teenage Mothers click here

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contact: equalrights formoms@yahoo.com

Check out  The College Mom Magazine:  Paying Tribute to College Moms!

Large State Schools the Best for Families

Good colleges for single mothers and parenting students: We have found the big state schools, such as University of Florida at Gainesville, or University of California at Davis, the best because they have received the federal grant to provide subsidized day care (sometimes free for Pell grant recipients or based on a sliding scale).

About Welfare, Taniff Assistance:

College moms going to college on Taniff: Now many states let you count class time and work study jobs as the workfare requirements. Go to the Links page for information about the Welfare Rights Intiative at Hunter College.

Financial Aid Information:

It is possible for mothers to go to the state universities without school loans: Compare these financial aid amounts to tuition and housing costs!

Pell grant---$4,731 (2008-9)
New : Academic Competitiveness Grant: $750 for the first year of study, $1,300 for the second year for Pell Grant recipients (2008-9)
New : National Smart Grant: $4,000 a year for 3rd and 4th year Pell grant recipients that major in the physical, life or computer sciences, mathematics, technology, engineering or a foreign language determined to be critical for national security. (2008-9)
New for 2008-9: College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 TEACH grant program: $4,000/year for teachers who will teach in low income areas
SEOG---------$4,000 (see below for details) 2008-9
Work study---$5,000 (varies)
State grant--$5,000 (varies) Also please look into scholar's incentive grants at your colleges financial aid departments.

New 2008-9 Loan information: Perkins Loans at 5%: $4,000 /Federal Stafford Loans (at 5.3% interest) $23,500 for the first year, $4,500 for the second year, and $5,500 for the 3rd and 4th years. (loans not recommended if you can avoid them, see below) Independent loans: $7,500 first year, $8,500 second year, $10,500 third and fourth years.
Financial Aid information: fafsa.ed.gov Scholarship information: Go to:The College Mom Magazine and click on Scholarship Page
Also go to the Map Search of Colleges and click on your individual state to find scholarships at each university Also: raisethenation.org

The Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant.

Although a college student could be eligible for the maximum award, now about $4,000 per year, the schools often only give several hundred dollars. They are allowed to spread the amount over a large group of students, rather than give the maximum per student. However, I needed the full amount when I was a student back in the 70's at the University of Arkansas, so I asked for the full amount and was told the money was "all gone." However when I returned with a lawyer from the Legal Aid office at the Law School on campus, they miraculously found the money.

Watch School Loans!

College mom beware: Now, some small private schools will admit students, then give them huge loans to pay their exorbitant tuition. Single moms should not be the ones paying for the expenses of the colleges. That is why I recommend applying to several schools and comparing the financial aid package.

Your Rights

Know that Title 9 (for complete text of Title IX click here) is a law that says that any service offered one student can not be denied another according to gender, and although that statute has only been applied to sports, it includes all programs. Know you are backed by laws that protect your right to be in school!
So: avoid loans, go for the maximum Pell grant and SEOG grant and state grants and work study and ask about other grants and scholarships. Be sure that your financial aid package will cover your expenses. Know what you are eligible for and continue to fight for a sufficient financial aid package, even if you have to get a legal aid lawyer to help.
-----Katherine Arnoldi (Thanks to Enid Mastrianni!)

Scholarship information:

Go to the Map Search for Colleges and click on your state to find the scholarship opportunities at individual colleges.S
http://www.monkey.com
Also Arkansas has a great scholarship page: http://www.ark.org/scholarship
/index.php/search/scholarships/new
For Other Scholarship information go to : raisethenation.org
For information about The Katherine Arnoldi
Scholarship Fund for Teenage Mothers click here

	illustrations by Katherine Arnoldi author, The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom about her own struggle to attend college as a teen mom
	To hear a 2005 interview with Katherine Arnoldi, go to:http://www.psychjourney.com/katherinearnoldi.htm
	home / guide to colleges / site map Search for Colleges / copyright by Katherine Arnoldi contact: equalrightsformoms@yahoo.com

copyright by Katherine Arnoldi

College Mom Magazine is featured in an article, "Student Moms, Pushed Off Campus," in the October 2007 issue of Glamour magazine. If you like to see articles like this in Glamour, then write them at letters@glamour.com or Glamour, 4 Times Square, New York, NY 10036-6593 or fax them at 212 286 6922. Thanks!!