Grants for Older African-American Women Returning to College

For older African-American women, returning to school can be a difficult undertaking. Older black women often are mothers and wives and sometimes were not provided access to education in their youth on account of both gender and race. Older women also have far more financial responsibilities than younger women. A handful of scholarships exist to aid older African-American women planning to continue education.

The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs provides scholarships for older African-American women returning to school through its Dr. Blanca Moore-Velez Woman of Substance Scholarship. The scholarship is available for African-American women over the age of 35 enrolled in an accredited college or university with a grade point average of 3.0 or above on the 4.0 GPA scale. To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must submit a 500-word essay on the topic “Challenges to the Mature Student and How I Overcame Them” with their application materials.

NANBPWC, Inc. 1806 New Hampshire Ave, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 202-483-4206 nanbpwc.org

Mature African-American women are eligible for grants to return to school through the Dr. Wynetta A. Frazier "Sister to Sister" Scholarship. As awarded by the National Hook-Up for Black Women, Inc., the scholarship is meted annually in amounts of $500 to African-American women 30 years of age or older returning to college without the financial or emotional support of a spouse. At least two of these scholarships are awarded each year.

National Hook-Up for Black Women, Inc 1809 East 71st St. Suite 205 Chicago IL 60649 773-667-7061 nhbwinc.com

The Jeannette Rankin Foundation provides grants for older women hoping to return to school through its Women’s Scholarship Fund. Designed under the belief that the best way to break the cycle of poverty is with access to education, the foundation provides scholarships to low-income women older than 35. Named after the first woman to be elected to Congress, women’s rights activist Jeannette Rankin, the goal of the foundation is to help women achieve their goals. Preference is given to women with well-defined goals and a clear idea of how their goals will positively impact themselves and their family.

Jeannette Rankin Foundation 1 Huntington Road, Suite 701 Athens, GA 30606 706-208-1211 rankinfoundation.org

Raise the Nation provides assistance for older women to return to school through its Scholarship For Continuing Education. The scholarship is designed to help women who are single parents but are ineligible for other grant or scholarship programs because they live above the poverty line. Raise the Nation funds the continued education of single mothers who have been denied access to education and are looking to raise their family’s standard of living through higher education. Women must be accepted to or enrolled in higher education before applying for the scholarship.

Raise The Nation P.O. Box 8058 Albuquerque, NM 87198 505-265-1201 raisethenation.org

The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation provides scholastic funding for older women through the Newcombe Scholarships for Mature Women Students. The program awards hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to individual schools, which in turn create scholarship programs for female students older than 25 returning to school to finish a bachelor's degree. Schools awarded Newcombe grants include, but are not limited to: American University, the University of Maryland University College, and Kean University. A full list of schools can be found on the Newcombe Foundation website.

The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation 35 Park Place Princeton, NJ 08542-6918 609-924-7022 newcombefoundation.org