Posts Tagged ‘information on grants and loans’
A Quick Course on Government Grants and Loans
You’ve scoured the internet for hours, looking for an effective and reliable source to give you some information on grants and loans offered by the United States government. You have stumbled upon dozens of references and web sites, but none of them have enough information about what these grants and loans are exactly, and how they are obtained.
Your tiresome searching, that up to now has still been fruitless and unsuccessful, ends here. Read on to learn some useful information on US government grants and loans.
What are US government grants and loans?
Let’s begin with loans. Government loans are like ordinary loans, and cater to a wide variety of needs, from business startup loans, disaster relief, housing, veteran, agriculture to student loans. The US government has set up a site specifically about the loans that its many departments offer. The site can be found at www.govloans.gov. In this site you will find agencies that offer different kinds of loans. You will also be able to search through loans that are currently available, so that you may find the one that best suits your financial needs.
A federal grant, on the other hand, is a form of financial assistance given by a federal agency to a beneficiary, whether it is a private citizen or an organization, for the purpose of carrying out public support or stimulation authorized by the law of the United States.
Every year, over 1,000 federal grants are offered by 26 federal agencies. These grants fall under different categories, such as:
Agriculture
Energy
Arts
Regional Development
Education
Environmental Quality
Food and Nutrition
Health
Community Development
Humanities
Business and Commerce
Housing
Disaster Prevention and Relief
Information and Statistics
Law, Justice, as well as Legal Services
Natural Resources
Science and Technology
Employment, Labor and Training
Social Services and Income Security
Transportation
Grants can also be categorized into two, namely general purpose, or operating support grants, and program development, or project support grants. General purpose grants can be used on the general expenses on operations by the recipient, while project support grants can be used on a specific set of related activities. Such grants require that a project set explicit or specific objectives and a predetermined cost. A project support grant, being much more specific than the general purpose grant, is restricted to be used on the predetermined project.
The United States government has set up a website specifically about the grants that its various agencies offer. You can visit the site at www.grants.gov.
1 CommentGetting US Government Grants for Female Single Parents
Two years ago one of your closest friends had to leave school to give birth and consequently take care of her baby. The child’s father did not offer support of any kind to your friend and has not been in touch with her ever since he found out she was pregnant. It was a difficult time for your friend and you did your best to help her get through it.
After two years, your friend is managing to take control of her life again, and has decided that she wants to go back to school. The only thing holding her back is the age-old issue of money. She won’t have enough to pay for tuition while at the same time pay for the basic needs of her baby. She was an excellent student and has an impressive transcript of grades, and you realize that her potential will be wasted if she fails to complete her education because she lacks the funds to do so.
Being a single parent has never been as common an occurrence before as it is today. Finally the world understands and respects the difficulties associated with raising a family on one’s own. As such, help is available for those single parents who need a little assistance, particularly when it comes to helping them with their education. The US government in particular offers grants for single parents, and gives particular importance to female single parents.
Many female single parents are denied scholarship grants and are instead encouraged to get loans to pay for school fees and living expenses. Unfortunately, this makes them prone to drowning in debt that they will have much difficulty to pay back.
With government grants, unlike loans, need not be paid back. Grants that amount from $500 to $50,000 are available to anyone who is 18 years old and above. In the US, over 20 million individuals get government grants annually, 6 million of which are grants for college tuition.
To be able to get a single female parent US government grant, you must first research the various programs offered by the US government, and find the ones that will most likely understand your situation, thereby giving you a better chance of getting your grant request approved. You must then contact the people behind the program and ask them the requirements needed to apply for the grant.
Almost everything you need to apply for government grants are on the internet, so all it takes is a bit of patience and a click of the mouse to help you get started.