eLearners.com and Leading Online Colleges Join Forces to Assist Working Mothers with at Least $2 Million in Full-Ride Scholarships

Hoboken, NJ (PRWEB) January 29, 2008 - eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics, today announced that it is partnering with three online colleges and universities to grant at least $2 million in full-ride scholarships to working moms as part of a new campaign, "Project Working Mom: Putting Education to Work". The first round of scholarships will be granted around Mother's Day and eLearners.com will continue to grow the scholarship pool and distribute the remaining scholarships throughout the year. As part of the campaign, eLearners.com has also launched a comprehensive website, http://www.projectworkingmom.com, to help women enhance their careers by going back to school.

"Project Working Mom: Putting Education to Work" is designed to help fix a growing crisis in America - the cycle of under-employment, by introducing online education into the lives of working mothers. Single moms represent more than 10 million people in the United States and only 16 percent have a college degree, according to U.S. Census data. As a result, only 22 percent of single working moms earn more than $30,000 per year. Those who are not able to advance their education because of life circumstances are forever caught in a cycle of under-employment a situation eLearners.com and EducationDynamics is working hard to address.

"We have found three major barriers associated with moms returning to school - time, money and confidence," said Terrence Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer for eLearners.com (http://www.elearners.com). "Because we believe so strongly in the empowerment that education provides, we have launched this comprehensive campaign to help women overcome these constraints and get on track to a better life for themselves and their families."

Time

With the demands of a job, and the added demands of raising a child, many mothers find they simply don't have the time and flexibility in their schedules necessary to go back to school. But unlike a traditional campus education, the convenience of online education allows a busy mother to schedule school-work around her daily routine. Most online courses have flexible schedules which allow working mothers to study when it's convenient for them. Online education also eliminates commuting time, and is especially convenient for people who work unusual hours or shift-work. "Not having to travel or rearrange a busy schedule can free up one to two hours per day that can be used for online study," added Thomas.

Money

Most full-time working mothers need financial aid to go to school part-time, however, the current financial aid system is modeled after a traditional, full-time, campus-based student. According to the Institute for Higher Education Policy, in 2003-04 only 54 percent of students attending part-time and classified as "working poor" received financial aid grants.

To help fill this void, eLearners.com is collaborating with three accredited colleges and universities to provide full-ride scholarships totaling at least $2 million. The schools contributing to the scholarships for working mothers are American Intercontinental University, DeVry University and Walden University.

"One goal for Project Working Mom is to raise awareness of the fact that federal financial aid is not fulfilling its obligation to the adult working student, particularly the single working mom," continued Thomas. "It's a public policy issue that must be addressed."

Women can apply for a "Project Working Mom" scholarship by visiting http://www.projectworkingmom.com. The site also includes one of the most comprehensive databases of other available scholarships--a list of $15 billion in scholarship offers--and allows visitors to research financial aid options offered by dozens of online schools.

Confidence

Gaining enough self-confidence to 'get started' is a major barrier for most working mothers. To address this, Project Working Mom provides these women with the resources and support they need to build confidence and be successful as online students. Students that visit http://www.projectworkingmom.com can take an array of self-assessment quizzes to determine their readiness for online education. In addition to education tools, the site has an active online community that will allow prospective students to talk with other moms in similar situations. Some of the helpful resources on the Project Working Mom website include:

8 Steps To Going Back To School

How To Pay For College

How To Handle The Stress of School, Work and Motherhood

Time Management Tips

How To Succeed As An Online Student

Testimonials from Inspirational Women

"Project Working Mom is the long awaited answer for many women struggling to make ends meet without a college degree," continued Thomas. "The scholarships, resources and community that eLearners.com has pulled together will give women the extra boost they need to finally take greater control of their life."

For more information on "Project Working Mom", to apply for a scholarship, or to check out eLearners.com's comprehensive resources, log on to http://projectworkingmom.com.

About eLearners.com®

The eLearners.com website is one of several high visibility, high-quality prospecting tools offered by EducationDynamics, LLC. Since 1999, eLearners.com has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including online degree and certificate programs, specialized career training, and a variety of online courses. For prospective students, eLearners® provides a powerful search engine for users to find thousands of online program offerings, as well as educational evaluation tools and financial aid resources. For colleges and universities, the eLearners.com website offers a low-cost, performance-based method to provide national exposure and increase enrollments in their programs. For more information on eLearners.com, visit www.elearners.com.

About EducationDynamics

EducationDynamics, LLC (http://www.educationdynamics.com/), a portfolio company of Halyard Capital (http://www.halyard.com/), is a leading interactive marketing and information services company focused on helping higher education institutions find, enroll and retain students. Home to some of the most visible education websites, including EarnMyDegree.com, eLearners.com, GradSchools.com, and StudyAbroad.com, EducationDynamics is one of the leading providers of qualified leads for colleges and universities. In addition, the company offers a full suite of web-delivered products and services to manage a school's relationship with students across their entire life cycle from inquiry through enrollment to retention. For more information on EducationDynamics, please visit http://www.educationdynamics.com.

###