Ways to Get a Free $15,000+ to Fund Your College Education

In this day and age, it is not at all easy being a mother--I know. Life can get pretty stressful, beyond any doubt. It's a lot harder if you did not bother to get a proper education. As a mother, you may be wishing that you had gone to college. Well, there is good news for you, you can get free scholarships and/or grants for mothers and go back to college.
You can now fulfill your dream of going to college and getting that precious degree that you have always dreamed of. As a mother, you may now be regretting the fact that you did not go to college before you got married. Now is the time to put that regret in the past and look forward to a more promising future.
Once you got married, you may have decided to stay at home and raise your kids. Somewhere along the way, you may have abandoned all hopes of starting or finishing a college education. But now, there is still hope for you and you can still get that education that you missed out on.
Believe it or not, but the awesome truth is that if you really want to go back to college, you still can, irrespective of the fact that you are now a mother. Your current circumstances are not a stumbling block for you to get that college degree. In fact, it is very easy for you because you are a mother. All you have to do is find and apply for scholarships and grants for moms.
By being a mother, you have put yourself in a category that receives funding for post-secondary education from multiple sources. Do you know what a grant is? Pretty much, it's free money given to you that you never have to pay back. One of the main sources of grants is the government.
Have you ever heard of the Pell Grant? This grant comes from the government. From this grant alone, you can receive around $5,500 per semester to help pay your college expenses. These grants are easy to obtain, especially if you are a mother or single mom. There are other grants that give a good amount of money also.
There are scholarships for moms that can amount to around $10,000 or more. They are easy to qualify for. All you have to do is apply.
There are so many options for funding a college education. You can also get financial aid (which you have to pay back). On some of the financial aid, you don't have to start paying anything back until six months after you graduate. No interest incurs during the time you are enrolled in classes. This also gives you a huge advantage.
There should be no excuse for you to not go back to college. Fear is usually the hardest thing to overcome. Once you learn about and start applying for scholarships and grants, your confidence will go up. So get going and kiss that fear good-bye!

Educating Patients About the Risks

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

It's advice that couples tend to ignore when talking to their fertility doctor about the number of embryos to transfer during IVF. Because the cost of fertility treatment is high and is usually not covered by insurance, they hedge their bets and gamble that transferring multiple embryos will increase the chances of getting pregnant. And while stricter guidelines for embryo transfer have been successful at reducing higher order multiples (triplets or more), "the next hurdle is how do we reduce the twin rate while maintaining the same pregnancy rate?" says R. Stan Williams, MD, president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART), and professor and chair of the Department of OB-GYN at the University of Florida.

Patients, however, tend to not see the risks of being pregnant with two. Michael A. Feinman, MD, Medical Director of HRC Fertility in Southern California, says some couples strongly want to transfer two embryos or actually desire twins. "Some couples think twins are 'cute,' because they do not see the ones who experience the problems of prematurity or see how difficult it is for parents to handle them."

The Risks of Multiples

Fertility doctors and patient advocates are working to educate patients about the serious health risks and high costs of having more than one baby at the same time.

"We have to do a better job educating patients about the health risks - they are not getting these messages," says Barbara Collura, executive director of the infertility patient advocacy group RESOLVE. "They are being told it by their doctor as part of the informed consent process. But reproductive endocrinologists - you can ask any single one of them if they ever get pressure from the patients to transfer more than the required guidelines state, and they will tell you 'yes, every day.'"

Even though there seem to be twins everywhere these days (between 1980 and 2004, the rate of multiple births increased by 70 percent), the risks to the health and well-being of the mother and babies - and the costs to society - are quite high.

"It has been shown that twin pregnancies cost society billions of dollars each year," Dr. Feinman says. "These costs are due to increased maternal hospitalizations to prevent prematurity, increased intensive care for the babies from prematurity, and increased rates of lifelong disabilities like cerebral palsy in twins."

Women who are pregnant with twins are at much higher risk for pregnancy complications, including:

• Premature birth: About 60 percent of twins are born prematurely at an average of 35 weeks.
• Low birthweight: More than half of twins are born at less than 5 ½ pounds. Low birthweight babies, especially those born before 32 weeks and/or weighing less than 3 1/3 pounds, are at increased risk of health problems during the newborn period, as well as lasting disabilities such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and vision and hearing loss.
• Cesarean section: Women who carry multiples may be more likely to need Caesarean sections, which may require a longer period of recovery and at times can increase the risk of hemorrhage during and after delivery.
• Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS): About 10 percent of identical twins who share a placenta develop TTTS, which occurs when a connection between the two babies' blood vessels in the placenta causes one baby to get too much blood flow and the other too little.
• Pre-eclampsia: Women expecting twins are more than twice as likely to develop pre-eclampsia, which is a combination of high blood pressure, protein in the urine and generalized swelling that can be dangerous for mother and baby.
• Gestational diabetes: This pregnancy-related form of diabetes can cause the baby to grow especially large, increasing the risk of injuries to mother and baby during vaginal birth. Babies may also have breathing and other problems during the newborn period.

Single Pregnancy Is Safer

Being pregnant with one child is safer, with the greatest chances for an optimal outcome. A recent study published in BMJ (British Medical Journal) found that women who undergo IVF are almost five times more likely to give birth to a single healthy baby following a single embryo transfer (SET) when compared with women who choose to have two embryos transferred. In addition, the SET appeared to significantly increase the chances of carrying the baby to full term (37 weeks).

With medical advances, assisted reproductive technology (ART) has come a long way from the early days of transferring six embryos in the hopes of getting just one to implant. Newer techniques such as blastocyst stage culture and transfer are maximizing pregnancy rates and minimizing the risk of a multiple pregnancy. By growing embryos for five days in the laboratory and enabling them to reach the blastocyst stage of development, fertility doctors can better determine which embryos have the greatest likelihood of implantation.

Research has shown that success rates for single embryo transfer vs. double embryo transfer are similar in certain circumstances. "In a favorable patient who is having a blastocyst (Day 5 embryo) transfer, one blastocyst is an equivalent pregnancy rate to two," Dr. Williams says.

But some couples have difficulty accepting these studies, according to Dr. Feinman. "They intuitively feel that the second embryo must hedge their bet. Also, input from friends and former patients often affects their feelings."

The most recent 2009 guidelines on embryo transfer from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and SART are very individualized. For example, for a woman under age 35 who is in the favorable category, the recommendation is to transfer one embryo if it is a Day 5 (blastocyst), and one to two embryos if it is a Day 3.

"The big advantage of the American system is we can look at shades of gray," Dr. Williams explains. "Depending on the patient's age, the prognosis of the patient, and the stage of the embryo development, we can develop guidelines that are more flexible to meet the needs of the patient while trying to reduce the potential for multiples."

Education Anywhere the Military Life Takes You

Choosing to enroll in the military is an admirable and worthy pursuit. Not only does an individual have the honor of serving his or her country and becoming all they can be, but they also have the opportunity to travel around the world. Another advantage is the armed services offer its troopers access to continuing their education, so they can also take advantage of these higher education opportunities. As a result, these military students frequently leave the service with valuable qualifications in hand.
However, how can military students pay for their education? It is common that the military will pay for a student's degree if he or she commits to several years of service after graduation. This can seem like an advantageous option for many. Not only does an individual get to achieve a bachelor's degree, but he or she then has the opportunity to get hands on experience to learn, travel and work on what they learn with the military.
Probably more important is what kind of degree the soldier walks out with. These students may want to look for online degree programs in order to maximize time with friends and family before traveling abroad with their unit. Online schools offer flexible study programs, so military students often fulfill their service to their unit while enrolled in courses. They then can put money away for their future.
Other military students might find that scholarship programs help them afford the education of their dreams from other outlets besides their branch of the armed services. One such program was recently highlighted by Topeka, Kansas, CBS news affiliate, Channel 13 WIBW. Military students were offered scholarships by the home state installation, Fort Riley.
Thanks to community donations and other support, the base known as "the Home of America's Army" was able to offer 10 students funding to complete their education. These individuals were either related to or spouses of Fort Riley military personnel.
This is not an unheard of situation. Such programs are not unique to military families and can give students an extra financial boost. In addition, online schools may be the best option for these learners, for they can study on a more flexible basis and therefore spend more time with family members when they are on leave or visiting home.
One thing all members of the armed services know, they can be deployed at any time and to anywhere. Online education will allow them to access course materials at the times they can, whether one is stationed in the Middle East or on a battleship on tour of duty in the Pacific Ocean. As long as they have access to Wi-Fi, they can work on their studies. In fact, many virtual schools will cut a soldier slack regarding deadlines if they are on a mission.