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Parents are expected to help pay for college for their undergraduate students. But many have not been putting aside money in a college fund along the way. With the recent dips in the housing market, taking out a second mortgage is not an option for most people. And, the stock market decline has made those savings less accessable. For parents who cannot come up with the amount of money that they are expected to pay, the PLUS loan makes a lot of sense.

The average cost of attending a private school is over $40,000 when you factor in tuition, room, board, and the other costs of going to school. Public schools may be less expensive, but the total cost of attendance can still be more than a graduate’s first year salary. That is why it is important for parents to do everything they can to increase the financial aid awards for their children.

You need to fill out the FAFSA early so that you know what your family’s expected contribution will be. This will help your child choose schools that are in your price range or get outside scholarships if they want to attend a more expensive college.

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Government grant money – does such a thing really exist? You’ve seen the ads, offering free government grants with no strings attached! The answer is yes, it does indeed exist, but you have to be careful what you mean by ‘grant money’.

Contrary to what people and the ads may say, the U.S. Government does not ‘give away’ free grant money to just anyone for any use. A government grant money is not a present, nor a gift with no strings or expectations attached.

Grant money for your small business IS available – but it’s tough to locate and evern tough to actually get! Contrary to what you might have heard – the government is NOT just throwing money at small busiess owners to use for whatever purpose they want!

In particular, the regulations covering the awarding of government grants is very strict. Although more than $150 million is set aside by Congress every year to be awarded as grants, this money can only be given out on the basis of guidelines set out by the various government agencies that actually oversee the different grants programs.

AmeriCorps programs throughout Virginia will participate in AmeriCorps Week, May 9-16. AmeriCorps members, alumni, project staff members, commission members, friends, and supporters will actively promote the national service program in an effort to bring more Americans into service, salute current and past members, and thank Americorps’ many partners.

Virginia AmeriCorps Week Events

• SynerGeo, Inc. will host a volunteer/member recognition dinner, a partner/program participants art show, and a community event.
• The Virginia Commonwealth University AmeriCorps program will deliver meals to needy senior citizens in the Richmond area through Meals on Wheels.

Through this category the National Endowment for the Arts seeks to make the excellence and diversity of the arts widely available to the American public through nationally distributed television and radio programs. Grants are available to support the development, production, and national distribution of radio and television programs on the arts. Priority will be given to artistically excellent programs that have the potential to reach a significant national audience, regardless of the size or geographic location of the applicant organization. Only programs of artistic excellence and merit, in both the media production and the subject, will be funded. strongApplications are now due September 3, 2009./strongbr /span class=”fullpost”br /br /Projects may include high profile multi-part television and radio series, single documentaries, performance programs, or arts segments for use within an existing series. Programs may deal with any art form (e.g., visual arts, music, dance, literature, design, theater, musical theater, opera, film/video/audio art, folk amp; traditional arts). Programs targeted to children and youth are welcome. All phases of a project — research and development, production, completion and distribution costs — are eligible for support. We welcome proposals that include ancillary activities that are intended to increase public knowledge, understanding, and access to the arts. Such activities might include the use of related radio and television programming; interactive Web sites; DVDs or other digital applications; educational material; collaborations with arts organizations, educators, and community groups; video/audio distribution to schools, libraries, and homes; and other public outreach activities.br /br /We Do Not Fund Under these guidelines, funding is not available for: Direct grants to individuals. Programs that are intended primarily for local distribution. Films/tapes that are produced primarily for non-broadcast distribution (e.g., an instructional video, a film to accompany an exhibition, a theatrical exhibition). Documentation or simple recording of performances or events primarily for archival purposes. Expenditures that are related to compensation to foreign nationals and artists traveling to or from foreign countries when those expenditures are not in compliance with regulations issued by the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control. For further information, see http://www.treas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/index.html or contact the Arts Endowment’s Grants amp; Contracts Office at grants@arts.gov. Organizations seeking funding for media projects that are not eligible under these guidelines may want to review the Arts Endowment’s Grants for Arts Projects guidelines.br /br /strongIntended Outcomes/strongbr /The Arts Endowment, along with other federal agencies, collects information on the projects it funds in order to track the results — or outcomes — of its activities. This information is compiled and reported to Congress and the public. The outcome the Arts Endowment intends to achieve through the Arts on Radio and Television category is: br /br /Audiences throughout the nation have opportunities to experience a wide range of art forms and activities.br /br /Within the context of this outcome, we ask all applicants to define what they would like to achieve, how they will assess the degree to which it is achieved, and, upon completion of the project, what they have learned from their successes and failures. This need not entail large-scale or expensive evaluation. Applicants should do what is feasible and appropriate for their organization and project. When a grant is completed, grantees must submit a final report and answer questions on their achievements and how they were gauged. Additional information about outcome-based evaluation may be found in the Outcomes Toolkit.br /br /strongEligible Applicants/strongbr /State governmentsbr /County governmentsbr /City or township governmentsbr /Special district governmentsbr /Independent school districtsbr /Public and State controlled institutions of higher educationbr /Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)br /Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher educationbr /Private institutions of higher educationbr /br /Document Type: Grants Noticebr /Funding Opportunity Number: 2009NEA01ARTVbr /Opportunity Category: Discretionarybr /Posted Date: May 11, 2009br /Creation Date: May 11, 2009br /Original Closing Date for Applications: Sep 03, 2009 br /Current Closing Date for Applications: Sep 03, 2009 Applicants are required to submit their applications electronically through Grants.gov, the federal government’s online application system. The Grants.gov system must receive your application no later than 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on September 3, 2009. We strongly recommend that you submit at least 10 days in advance of the deadline to give yourself ample time to resolve any problems that you might encounter. The Arts Endowment will not accept late applications. Please be aware that the Grants.gov Customer Service hours are 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday to Friday.br /Archive Date: Oct 03, 2009br /Funding Instrument Type: Grantbr /Category of Funding Activity: Arts (see “Cultural Affairs” in CFDA)br /Category Explanation:br /Expected Number of Awards:br /Estimated Total Program Funding:br /Award Ceiling: $200,000br /Award Floor: $10,000br /CFDA Number(s): 45.024 — Promotion of the Arts_Grants to Organizations and Individualsbr /Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yesbr /br /a href=”http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/RadioTV/index.html” target=”_blank”NEA Web Site Program Announcement/abr /p/p/spandiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/5076203316942198080-8915242227433910663?l=nthpgrants.blogspot.com’//divimg src=”http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/nthpgrants/~4/UavzOF_ZXfQ” height=”1″ width=”1″/

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The EEA and Norway Grants were thoroughly represented at the Forum of European Funds in Warsaw on 7-8 May 2009.

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