Scholarships for Working Moms

Project Working Mom seeks to raise national awareness about the educational challenges facing many working parents. For instance, while 83% of single moms have high school diplomas, only 16 percent of them have a bachelor’s degree or higher. And, 35% of families in poverty are headed by single moms. Project Working Mom believes that online education is the answer to many of the challenges facing working moms and dads, both single and married, who want to further their education and lives.

A select group of online colleges and universities have teamed with eLearners.com to support Project Working Mom. The schools have committed to providing 65 full-tuition scholarships totaling up to $2 million dollars to working moms and dads to help them further their education and obtain their degrees.

You can apply to one of the scholarship sponsors for a “Project Working Mom ... and Dads, Too!” scholarship. Each scholarship sponsor will designate its own scholarship selection committee to select scholarship award recipients.

Scholarship Sponsors:
The following online online colleges and universities are sponsoring Project Working Mom:
Ashford University - www.ashford.edu - 10 scholarships to be awarded
Capella University - www.capella.edu - 10 scholarships to be awarded
Everest University - www.everest.edu - 10 scholarships to be awarded
Virginia College Online - www.vconline.edu - 15 scholarships to be awarded
Ashworth College - www.ashworthcollege.edu - 20 scholarships to be awarded

Eligibility Requirements:
“Project Working Mom ... and Dads, Too!” scholarships are for single and married working mothers and fathers who are interested in enrolling in an accredited online degree program. Employees (and family members) of scholarship sponsors or eLearners.com and their respective affiliates are not eligible to participate. All application materials submitted become the property of eLearners.com. One application per person.

Application Process:
To apply for a “Project Working Mom ... and Dads, Too!” scholarship, simply complete the online application, located at http://www.elearners.com/projectworkingmom/Scholarships/EntryForm.aspx?tsource=home&tid=200 where you will be asked to fill in the following:
Name
Age
Number of Children
Current Work Status
Email
Current Address and Phone Number
An essay of 1500 words or less, describing why getting your degree is important to you. Tell them about (a) your life, education, and/or career goal(s), (b) how education will ultimately enable you to achieve those goal(s), and (c) why online education is the right choice for you.
They strongly encourage you to discuss any personal challenges or obstacles you have had to overcome in your pursuit of getting your degree.

Selection Process:
Applications will be reviewed by Project Working Mom scholarship award committees of each of the online schools you designate in your scholarship application. The scholarship recipients will be selected based on the strength of the application and written essay as determined by each designated scholarship committee. Scholarship sponsoring schools and scholarship recipients are responsible for the details of the delivery and acceptance of the scholarship award including but not limited to any applicable tax obligations with respect to the award.

Deadline:
Applications must be received online by Wednesday, April 30, 2009 (5:00 P.M. ET). To be eligible for possible selection as a scholarship finalist to appear on The Tyra Banks Show in March or April 2009, applications must be received online by Sunday, March 8, 2009 (5:00 P.M. ET).

See details here.