The United States suffers a critical shortage of physicians and nurses. Especially in depressed inner cities and remote rural areas, people have little or no access to quality healthcare, because the country does not have professionals to serve them. In the next decade, the nation will need a million new nurses and almost as many doctors. With the passage of health care reform legislation, the nation urgently will need primary care physicians and Certified Nurse Practitioners. Therefore, as Congress and the President approved the Economic Recovery Act of 2009, they built-in provisions for literally billions of dollars in grants and scholarships for students entering the allied health professions.

Naturally, first priority for a grant or scholarship goes to students in pre-med majors or on track to bachelors degrees in nursing, but students in RN, pharmacy, and surgical technician programs also qualify. These grants do not replace Pell Grants or federally guaranteed Perkins loans; instead, they supplement those awards, basing qualification on satisfactory progress through higher education and students' financial needs. Naturally, the grantors award some special consideration to students whose families have histories of economic and educational disadvantage. The criteria, however, are strictly numerical-grade point averages, test scores, and family incomes.

Single mothers naturally gravitate to allied health professions, because their experience as mothers prepares them to serve as exceptional caregivers, and the diamond lanes to the degrees remain wide open. Online nursing programs especially award transfer credit up to ninety units for well-documented "life experiences relevant to students' degree expectations." If a student demonstrates minimal competence in reading, writing, and mathematics, many online degree programs will allow them to test out of or petition out of other general education requirements for the sake of quick advancement into their pre-professional programs.

Single mothers typically can expect financial aid awards to the full extent of their needs. Pell Grants alone will cover approximately 30% of a student's annual expenses. Grants from the Health Careers Opportunity Program and other special pre-health initiatives pay for textbooks and materials; they also pay for some housing and everyday living expenses. And the best online schools and four-year institutions assist students in their searches and applications for "merit-based" scholarships to meet 100% of students' financial needs.

With proper financial support and appropriate motivation, a single mother can earn her RN in approximately two years. Moreover, in 2009, Registered Nurses commanded average starting salaries over $55,000, and most received "sign-on bonuses" in excess of $2500(US).

Did you know you can get a $10,000 scholarship for Moms just for registering? Apply right now for free: Scholarships for Moms

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michel_B.