Free Government Grants For College Tuition

by government grants on October 28, 2011

Education today is an essential commodity. It is what enables a high school dreamer to achieve his dreams. It is what enables a developing nation to become one of the developed ones. But just like any other commodity that we humans require, education has a price & over time that price has moved in only one direction, up. Today in the US the average course fees of a proper 4 year college degree from a respectable private college is around $15000 per year. In a country where the national average of individual income is around $70,000 a year the above statement becomes unrealistic. Instead people turn to cheaper public universities & community colleges. Now when I say cheaper, I only mean in comparison. Paying upwards of $5000 a year is not cheap by any standards. In such a scenario the importance of Government grant programs that are devised with the needs of college students in mind, cannot be overstressed. The aid made available by these grant programs mainly comes in the form of financial support which of course considerably reduces the price tag that higher education comes with these days.

There are several categories of grant programs issued by the Government:-

1. Specific to the student – As the name suggests these grants are issued to college students & such programs have very specific eligibility parameters relating to the students background, his/her family background, academic credentials etc. However there are no specifications as to how or where or for which subject the funds issued should be used. This can act as an advantage since many college students make changes to their original academic curriculum after admission.
2. Subject based – No guesses here, these grant programs are issued to students only for a particular subject as per the norms of the program itself.
3. Minority specific – Some free government grants for college tuition purposes are reserved for the minority communities. The terms & conditions of minority specific higher education grant programs can vary considerably & can be unique for each minority community.

In the US the structure of Government issued educational grant system is a dual level structure – Federal Government & State Government issued free government grants.

•Federal level grant programs – Since the inception of the NCLB act or the 'No Child Left Behind Act ', in 2001 the federal Government has been channeling millions of tax payer dollars to the overall upliftment of the countries education system. What this means for college goers is that the number of federal higher education grant programs have quadrupled over the last few years. If there was ever a time to seek financial assistance from the Government for completing your major then it's now.

State level grant programs – Many state administrations also offer various government grants programs to college students & the eligibility criteria for such programs varies widely from state to state, for example The higher study grant programs offered by the state of Michigan cater to the needs of a very wide range of students with eligibility categories like academically gifted, belonging to low-income families and even non-conventional adult students. In the state of Florida the Office of Student Financial Assistance is responsible for issuing grants to eligible college students.