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Newly divorced, a single mother, and poor - I faced this trifecta of unfortunate events a few years ago. Obviously, things could only get better if I finished my degree. But how? I was clueless about financial aid. My parents had paid for my first two years of college some 20 years prior. Now in my 40's, it was up to me to tackle the obstacle course of college funding. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid, www.fafsa.ed.gov) yielded an abundance of grant and loan opportunities. It would cover my tuition and some other costs. But I had a mortgage, all the costs associated with home ownership (taxes, insurance, maintenance), a car, and a young child to care for. I could only take classes while my daughter was in school. I needed to be home for her in the afternoons. There was no spare moment for me to work and my savings were shrinking. And I had no healthcare coverage. Something had to give - I simply needed more money to stay in college and pay the bills.

So I began a quest to uncover more funding sources. At my public library I stumbled upon the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance - the motherload of all Federal Government educational money programs (www.cfda.gov). And then I stumbled across another fascinating book, entitled "Free Money for Everybody" by Matthew Lesko. I took one look at the front cover and raised an eyebrow. A goofy man wearing a suit emblazoned with questions marks stared back at me. But I owe that goofy man a great deal of gratitude. Matthew Lesko, bless his heart, has managed to put together a book full of "free money." Sure enough, money is out there, available for people just like me, from foundations and nonprofits. Grants, fellowships, scholarships, contests - the book simply pulled information from all over the place and put it in an easy-to-read text.

It takes a great deal of time to study every page and mark the organizations that apply to me. I am an English major and writer, so I put tabs on writing grants. Because I write, many organizations consider me an artist. So I put tabs on artistic grants. I may very well teach my craft some day, so I put tabs on teaching grants. Then I painstakenly look up each website, see if I match the organization's requisites, apply, or click on links that take me further into the world of free money. That's how I found Helium. That's how I found more contests to enter and more opportunities to work from home.

And I have only begun to scratch the surface. Mr. Lesko suggests that I also visit a bookstore chain to look at scholarship books - books I didn't even know existed. Also available are health resources, legal resources and other resources that I need in order to live and thrive while in college.

I suggest that the best way to finance your college is to take advantage of both traditional and non-traditional sources of money. Chances are, you will stumble across your own epiphany of funding sources. If so, please share them! It may help change a worth student's circumstances!

Learn more about this author, Melanie Saxton.
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