Scholarships for children with incarcerated parents?

liveandlearn2011 · 02-08-2011, 11:18 PM

I was just wondering if there are any scholarships/grants for children with incarcerated parents. My father has been in and out of prison since I was about 7.

I've searched through several pages on Google, but haven't found anything.

Does anyone know of any I could apply for?

liveandlearn2011 · 02-09-2011, 03:46 PM

Bump? If anyone knows ANYTHING, please let me know!

mom2collegekids · 02-09-2011, 04:48 PM

Sweetie...I really don't think there are such scholarships.

Scholarships have to be funded by someone/an organization/etc, that has a reason to provide the money for these scholarships. Usually, there is a "motivation" for such people to fund these scholarships. Such as...and engineering company will fund a scholarship for future engineers. A nursing organization will fund a scholarship for future nurses.

While it certainly can be argued that children of incarcerated parents have difficulties paying for college, I don't think anyone has funded such scholarships. As a low-income student, you will qualify for Pell Grants.

mathmomvt · 02-09-2011, 05:21 PM

There are scholarships for kids who have "overcome adversity" -- you might have better luck searching for something like that.

arabrab · 02-09-2011, 08:14 PM

Liveandlearn -- If you want to share a little of your statistics (nothing personal -- more like what state you live in, your GPA, and your PSAT or SAT or ACT scores if you have them, as well as possible majors, some folks here might be able to share some ideas related to merit scholarships and financial aid. If you can give a general family income ($15,000 a year, mom and two kids) that would also help.

liveandlearn2011 · 02-09-2011, 08:32 PM

SAT (last time I took it): M: 550, CR: 600, W: 700. I'll have new scores I can post tomorrow that might be higher, though.

GPA: At the end of my junior year, it was 3.622, but it might have gone up since then (I'll know by the end of the week). I'll have a new rank then, too, but the last one I got was 37/290.

Majors: Advertising/Marketing/Communications

Income for 2010: $20,000 from (single) mother with two kids (my sister and I).

raiderade · 02-09-2011, 08:46 PM

There is a scholarship for a child with one or more incarcerated parents but it is only for kids in the state of Delaware. You don't happen to like in DE do you?

liveandlearn2011 · 02-09-2011, 08:52 PM

Nope. I'm from Texas.

arabrab · 02-09-2011, 11:04 PM

Liveandlearn -- you're a senior now? Have you applied to college for this coming fall, or do you have other plans for next year? If you have applied to college already, have you and your mom completed the FAFSA yet? What was your EFC? (I think it is probably 0, but it would be good to confirm that.)

mominaz · 02-09-2011, 11:34 PM

I googled: Scholarship texas children of incarcerated parents

I found this, but I think you had to apply in October. Please read through it just to make sure. If this one exists there may me be others, but alot of scholarships will be at deadline around now. You should also search online and talk to your school counselor. Good luck!

Here's the link to the information and application form:
WriteAPrisoner.com ? Social Website for Inmates

liveandlearn2011 · 02-09-2011, 11:44 PM

Thanks everyone! I'm going to make an appointment with my counselor to see if there is anything he knows of. Also, I'm planning on going to college next year (fall 2011). I've almost finished the FAFSA, but I've got to wait for my mom to get her PIN before we can send it in. Plus, I want my counselor to look at it and make sure that everything is right.

liveandlearn2011 · 02-10-2011, 05:04 AM

New SAT scores! M: 560, CR: 630, W: 770

arabrab · 02-10-2011, 02:22 PM

Good for you, liveandlearn -- those are some nice score increases! It would be good to get that FAFSA submitted very soon -- you might be running up on deadlines for some of your schools. Have you arranged for those new scores to be sent to your colleges?

liveandlearn2011 · 02-10-2011, 03:03 PM

The FAFSA will be submitted by the end of this week, and all of the schools I want to go to have my new scores or will soon. (:

jamienbv · 04-02-2011, 01:30 AM

Hi friend,

Thank you so much for your question because you have reaffirmed everything my sister and I are trying to do. We recently became co-directors of the Pelican Bay Prison Project and our sole purpose is to create a scholarship for children of incarcerated parents. My sister and I both had a father in and out of prison since we were born. And unfortunately he just died in prison over the summer. It's a very long and sad story. My sister and I busted our tail ends to do well in school and other things so that we could get a good education and take the road less traveled, the opposite road in which our parents had chosen. As an honor student, my sister was able to nail a bunch of scholarships for having overcome adversity. However, knowing her potential I set out to find any scholarship I could for her and even myself, so it dawned on me to search for scholarships for students of incarcerated parents. To my dismay, there aren't any. I felt really down because of it. Knowing that because of the lack of scholarships for this particular area when there are practically scholarships for everything these days, I felt as if it were a slap in the face. I felt like that was what society thought of children like us. There are no scholarships for people like us because they feel like we are never going to amount to anything. To be honest, it really ****es me off. My sister and I are working endlessly to get this started and rolling and we have a good start. What I would like to know, is how old are you? Which grade are you in and in which state are you located in? We are hoping to get this thing going right away and depending on when we can get it there you may be eligible to apply.

I would like to not take this time to congratulate you on all your hard work and determination. And if anyone knows how hard it is living and growing up without a parent who is in and out of prison, and trying to survive in a one parent income we know it can be terribly hard. I would like to commend you for taking the road less traveled and looking and searching for a brighter future. I am sure it wasn't easy. But if there is anything my sister have learned it's that our backgrounds and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become. So cheers to you friend!

Jamie