Students in low-income schools can receive help with their educations with federal grants.
Improving schools, sending students to college and recruiting teachers are all obstacles made harder by low-income status. So the federal government uses grants as a way to help student performance and foster education. The U.S. Department of Education administers several grants for schools, teachers and students.
Title I Grants
Schools with large numbers of students from low-income families can use Title I grants to offer them individual help. The program is dubbed Title I because Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act legally provides for it. Congress in 2008 appropriated almost $14 billion for the program. Schools can use the grant money to help failing students or the most at-risk students. Schools with 40 percent or more of their students qualifying as low-income can use Title I funding to create school-wide programs. The intention of the program is to bring under-performing students up to state standards.
Learning Center Grants
Outside of regular school hours, education agencies and other community groups can use federal grant funding to pay for academic programs for low-income students. Academic assistance and other educational programs that involve both students and their families can be eligible for funding through the 21st Century Community Learning Center program. Centers' activities must compliment regular school work outside school hours to help struggling students meet state standards. Congress budgeted $1.08 billion for the program in 2008.
Title III Grants
Low-income education grants aren't reserved for K-12 schools. Universities receive grants provided for under Title III of the Higher Education Act. Congress, in the legislation, states many low-income and minority college students are at an academic disadvantage, but schools can't always afford to provide them additional assistance. The federal government in 2011 appropriated $84 million to schools, according to Department of Education estimates, so they could offer assistance to low-income students. Title III funding can pay for courses and programs tailored to low-income students, new facilities and faculty development, among other uses.
Pell Grants
Students unable to afford college could be eligible for Federal Pell Grants. The program in the 2010 and 2011 school year awarded up to $5,550 -- or an average of $3,865 -- to undergraduate students. Pell is one of several Department of Education college grants, but with $32.3 billion in available funding in 2011, it is the department's largest college grant. Information from students' Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) determines how in-need students are of assistance, thus how much they are eligible for.
TEACH Grants
While many Department of Education grants intend to send low-income students to college, one program intends to send students to low-income schools. TEACH Grants, short for Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education, provide $4,000 per school year to students majoring in education. One of the core requirements for the program is grant recipients must agree to teach for at least four years in a low-income school after they graduate. Grant recipients must also teach high-need subjects, such as math, science or special education.
Tags: Department Education, low-income students, billion program, federal government, Higher Education, Learning Center