Student grants and scholarships?
Is it harder to get a grant or scholarship if you're studying online as opposed to a traditional school? Are there any grants or scholarships out there for online and "nontraditional" students?
- answers

How to get funding is a great question for any online student to ask. There are a lot of grants and scholarships designed especially for adult students and online learners. Individual online schools offer a lot of grants and scholarships; some are need-based, while others award on the basis of financial merit, area of study, ethnic background, and other things. Just to give you an idea, here are some pages for scholarships offered at a few well-known online schools:
Walden University:
http://www.waldenu.edu/c/Tuition/8331_11158.htm
University of Phoenix:
http://www.phoenix.edu/tuition_and_financial_options/university_phoenix_grant_scholarship_programs.aspx
Grantham:
http://www.grantham.edu/admissions/scholarships.php
Western Governors University:
http://www.wgu.edu/tuition_financial_aid/scholarships.asp
There are plenty of scholarships for nontraditional students offered by private nonprofits; here are a few I've come across:
DIA Displaced Homemakers Scholarship:
http://indian-affairs.org/scholarships/displaced_homemakers.htm
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation:
http://www.jackkentcookefoundation.org
US Business and Professional Women:
http://www.bpwusa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3381
Organizations such as the American Legion, the U.S. Military, and Royal Neighbors have grants for members as well. Here are a few sites of interest:
http://www.legion-aux.org/Scholarships/NonTraditionalStudent/index.aspx
Royal Neighbors
http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/programs.htm#Independent
You should also check with your state higher education agency to see what they offer. All states have some government grants for students. Many offer grants specific to adult and non-traditional learners, but even if your state doesn't have a specific grant for you, that doesn't mean you can't apply to some of their more general student grants.
The federal government's grant programs are generally open to adult and nontraditional students; fill out a FAFSA form to apply for these. Here's the website:
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
There's a decent article on this site about student aid for nontraditional students, and they're coming out with a long resource list of grants and scholarships soon--so check back here. Here's a link to the current article:
http://www.distance-education.org/Articles/Grants-and-Scholarships--What-You-Need-to-Know-42.html
Best of luck!
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