Scholarships for black women are part of a wider network of assistance for education available in this country. Scholarships are available to students in general, and to adults who are attempting to go back to school and gain their necessary degrees and build a career that way. However, there are also specific scholarships that target certain demographic groups and there are plenty of scholarships for black women. This enables them to escape from the potential poverty they may be living in and go out there are earn a decent living and provide support not only for themselves but their families as well.
The AWG Minority Scholarship is one such 0pportunity where women who wish to pursue a career in geoscience can apply. It is financial aid for attending a college as well as matching them with a mentor who guides them along the way and assists them in their future career choices as well. The applicants for this program must be from a minority group (such as African-American/Black) and be women. However they must already be attending or planning to attend an undergraduate school with the view towards obtaining a degree in the geosciences. This scholarship is for $6,000 for the year and the deadline to apply is in June.
The AARP Foundation is another excellent source and their Women’s Scholarship Program provides any woman over the age of 40 with an opportunity to seek educational opportunities or training in various fields so that they may be better placed to apply for jobs. It is only for women in low income situations with limited resources. Once the scholarship is obtained (the amount ranges from 500$ to 5000$ yearly) they must enroll in a college or university program within six months. There are only about a hundred scholarships awarded per year thus it is a fairly competitive program.
Finally there is the Jeannete Rankin Foundation which grants scholarships to lower income women who can demonstrate a detailed plan of how obtaining an education will benefit them and their families and potentially their community as well. They must be 35 years of age or older, and have goals for the future and an outline as to how those goals will be accomplished. There is an essay attached to the application and the quality of that essay has a strong bearing upon who gets the scholarship. The reward amount is for $2000 and the deadline is in March.
These are merely three examples, for there are a plethora of scholarships for women and black women in general. It is simply a matter of figuring out what one wishes to do with their life and then dedicating time to the application process.
