Stimlus Package - Federal College Grants for Women

Back to current events. Here in Lake Oswego, many households have taken a financial hit, losing half their financial portfolios. There is a trickle down effect as they cut back on spending. This effects restaurants, house cleaners, and dry cleaners, etc.

One of my friends falls into one of these above categories, and is also a single mom putting her kid through college. She is pondering changing careers. I said I've been seeing blurbs on the Internet about college grants for older women who want to re-train - to change careers, by going back to college.

She thinks this sounds great, and asked me to send her any information that I come across on this topic. I decided to re-focus this blog on this topic, as it is a current concern here in Oregon. We are now at a 14% unemployment rate, second only to Michigan which is at 16%. Both the auto industry and construction are hit hard. Since Oregon's main export is Forestry and Nursery products, the fall in the Contruction industry impacts Oregon pretty hard.

Search on this:
college scholarships for returning students
I found this link on the federal website:
US Government Grants >> Government Grants for Women
"The government has special programs set aside for women that are designed to assist in starting up a small business, providing grants and scholarships for school (including loans for school and Financial aid), and even grants for graduate school including law school and medical school ...
One benefit of the current economic crisis is that there is a lot of bailout money available. Despite media coverage to the contrary, a huge chunk of this money has been reserved for government grants to help women get back on their feet. President Obama has made it a goal of his administration to provide grants to help women in business development through grants and loans, particularly for women entrepreneurs, education assistance through scholarships, and assorted grants for just about everything else.

Am I Eligible to Receive Government Grants?

As long as you live in the United States and are a citizen or resident you are eligible to receive a free government grant. The government is legally required to give away a portion of the tax money it collects each year, in the form of government grants. We are here to educate the public about Government Grants because only about 15% of available grants for women are even applied for!

Get grants from $50,000 - $1,500,000 or more, free, that you never have to pay back whether you’re employed or unemployed."

The above words are right off the usgov-grants.org website. Unlike so many other come on ads flashing on the Internet, this one is serious. This site recommends 3 different other websites to assist seekers in finding the grants best suited foy you, and grant writing software.

• Grants for Citizens - This one has Grant writing software and is the most comprehensive, thus also could be the most overwhelming. They have templates so you just have to fill out personal information, and it will format the rest.
  
• Grants 360 - sortable listings of all the grants, again the list could be overwhelming.
  
• Free Government Money - this one specializes in grants for Women and Minorities and low income people including grants for getting out of debt and paying your medical bills
  

This federal site does say you may be charged $1 to $2 for CDs.

Yes, you do have to work at it to get a grant. Remember that grants from the US government require proper documentation, especially in these days of government transparency. Your local SBA - Small Business Association office may be able to help you find and get started on these grant applications.