Scholarships for Homeless Students Provide So Much More Than Money

by Josie Raymond · 2010-10-27 07:07:00 UTC
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Know any homeless or formerly homeless students who have persevered despite remarkable challenges and are ready to thrive in college? The Horatio Alger Association, in partnership with Give US Your Poor: The Campaign to End Homelessness, is awarding 1,000 college scholarships this year to students who've survived the specter of homelessness. More than 100 of them are worth $20,000 each, while the rest are state-specific awards of $2,500 to $10,000.

The deadline is this Saturday, Oct. 30.

Starting in January 2011, homeless students should also think of applying for scholarships from the LeTendre Education Fund for Homeless Children through the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. There aren't enough to go around, yet, but the awards could be life-changing for students who win them.

It's been said many times by many people how important education is. Most recently, in his 2010 State of the Union address, President Obama said, "In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education. And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential."

Right now there are about one million homeless students in the United States, and where they live — or rather, where they don't live — has a huge impact on the quality of education the receive as well as their ability to learn.

A good education, and a college degree, aren't even close to being guarantees against a generational cycle of poverty and homelessness, but they can help. These days, though, tuition bills and student loans are as likely to drop someone into poverty as college classes are to give them the skills necessary to find a living wage job. These scholarships couldn't come at a more important time, or go to more deserving students.

Photo credit: m00by

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.
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