The Obama Mama Scholarship Plan Increases The Amount Of All Women Returning To School In 2009!

There are an approximate 13 million single mothers in the United States today.  Those brave women raise an estimated 22 million children all by themselves, with no spouses and oftentimes no familial or community support.  While many would go back to school if they could choose between multiple low-paying jobs and a college-educated career, the opportunities for higher education have been scarce thus far.  It's not easy to re-enter academia while also functioning as the sole breadwinner of your family.  Working the cash registers at Wal-Mart often leaves little time for syllabi, textbooks and proctored exams.

To that end, President Obama has promised an ambitious expansion of the federal Pell Grant for single mothers. The Pell Grant currently offers a maximum of around $5000 for low-income students. For low-income single mothers, Obama would raise the maximum Pell Grant to $10,000. This would not only have the effect of increasing college enrollment for single mothers - it would also bring huge benefits to their children. Kids raised in poverty are far more likely to perpetuate that cycle themselves. They are more likely to drop out of school and enter the system of federal prisons and juvenile delinquent facilities. In the end, these disadvantaged children cost more to put through the penal system than the Pell Grant will spend educating their mothers and brightening their futures.

Teaming up with President Obama's scholarship plan is the increasing ease of receiving an online degree or studying nights and weekends towards a bachelor's degree. Community colleges all over the nation are working to meet the need of an influx of Americans hoping to further their careers and their households. It has never been easier to gain higher education, and the need has never been greater. Barack Obama's Pell Grant push has become a national initiative to rejuvenate America.