A type of intergovernmental transfer in use today is grants for college (Fromm, 2007). Primarily, this is a program where free or non-repayable money is awarded to college students based more on financial need than academic achievement or extracurricular performance. The program’s purpose is to ensure that education becomes more accessible to every student, and this occurs when the necessary funds are given to students either directly or indirectly with the aim of helping meet their total college costs.
It is argued that there are various funding sources for college grants. One of the funding sources for the same is the Federal government (Tanabe & Tanabe, 2009), and this is often administered through the US Department of Education. Put simply, the recipient of the funds is the US Department of Education found in every state, which then channels the funds to students. The Federal grant programs currently in use in the US include the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, where students are obligated to apply through their colleges, and the reception of the same is on the basis of first come, first served. Moreover, the federal grants must be used solely for educational purposes. Another funding source for college grants is the state governments (Fromm, 2007), and this is administered through a Department of Higher Education available in every state. It should be noted that state grants are often supported by the taxes collected at the state level. State grants serve the purpose of assisting students with low-income and also support minority students in the pursuit of college careers. The recipients of state grants are students, and this is because the funds are channeled to them directly. The condition accompanying the program is that administration of funds is on a first come, first served basis. Besides, it is an obligation that students submit proper application materials for the reception of the same.
- Fromm, J. M. (2007). Grants: Introduction, sources and bibliography. New York: Nova Science.
- Tanabe, G. S., & Tanabe, K. Y. (2009). 1001 ways to pay for college. Belmont, CA: SuperCollege.
