Several Saline County single parents were among those awarded over $480K in scholarships

The Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund (ASPSF) announced Monday its Fall 2022 scholarship recipients – including a few from Saline County.

Thanks to the support of generous donors, ASPSF awarded nearly 400 scholarships totaling more than $480,000 to low-income single parents pursuing associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and skilled-trade certificates in Arkansas and Bowie County, Texas.

The single parents were honored at awards ceremonies hosted around the state, including Little Rock, Jonesboro, Fort Smith, Texarkana, Batesville, and Wynne.

“The ASPSF has helped me be able to achieve my goal of obtaining my bachelor’s degree. Every semester the ASPSF has been a blessing for unexpected expenses during the semester.” — Abbygale D. of Bryant, a social sciences major at Henderson State University. 

ASPSF’s flexible scholarships of up to $1,200 helps single parents pay for the biggest financial obstacles to obtaining a degree that leads to a career with family-supporting wages. The monetary aid is paired with mentoring, financial instruction, and career coaching — the soft skill training that transforms students into sought-after employees.

So far in 2022, ASPSF has distributed more than $1 million in scholarships to over 1,000 single parents in 68 counties and has hosted hundreds of professional-development workshops.

“As a single parent, having resources is so important. The scholarship allowed me to focus on school – devote all my attention to being here, being present. I didn’t have to choose between my education, being a parent, and a full-time job.” — Rachel Childers of Benton, studying cosmetology at Benton Beauty Academy.

This investment strengthens communities with viable economic impact and emboldens entire families to imagine a brighter future. Because as the children of ASPSF scholarship recipients witness their parent working hard to pursue a better life through education, the likelihood of them pursuing higher education after their own high school completion increases, often breaking a generational cycle of poverty.

Single parents are eligible for ASPSF scholarships if their household income is typically not more than 250% of Federal Poverty Guidelines, maintain at least a 2.0 GPA, and have not previously earned a bachelor’s degree, among other requirements.

Staff members have begun reviewing the hundreds of scholarship applications for next year and will begin awarding Spring 2023 scholarships in the coming months. ASPSF’s next scholarship application period is Jan. 15 to March 15, 2023 for the Summer 2023 semester.

“ASPSF has impacted my family by caring. The world is full of people who only care about themselves. However, ASPSF has shown me that you do not need to fully know someone to care for them. They have supported me and my son through COVID and are allowing me to get my degree. Because of ASPSF support, ASPSF opens up opportunities for me and my son that were not available.” — Zannon H. of Bryant, an education major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock

For more than 30 years, Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund has worked to create stronger, more educated, and more self-sufficient families. Through scholarships and services, ASPSF opens doors for low-income single parents, helping them pursue education, secure employment, and transform the future for their families. With the help of volunteers and community support, ASPSF creates multigenerational change, transforming lives for both single parents and their children. For information about scholarships, volunteer opportunities, and ways to give, visit www.aspsf.org.

For more information about Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund – which has awarded more than $30 million in scholarships across the state to single parents since 1990 – contact ASPSF Communications Director Jen Para at [email protected] or 479.318.2885.