Nearly 400 Single Parents Benefit from ASPSF Fall 2022 Scholarships

Thanks to the support of generous donors, ASPSF awarded nearly 400 scholarships totaling more than $480,000 to low-income single parents pursuing associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and skilled-trade certificates in Arkansas and Bowie County, Texas. The single parents were honored at awards ceremonies hosted around the state, including Little Rock, Jonesboro, Fort Smith, Texarkana, Batesville, and Wynne. 

“This scholarship will help tremendously financially and would relieve some stress in my life,” said scholarship recipient Bailey Birge, who is a freshman at East Arkansas Community College pursuing an Associate of Arts degree. She is a mother of two children, both with special needs. 

Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund Fall 2022 recipient Bailey Birge (left) receives her scholarship, presented by volunteer Sherry Breckenridge. When Bailey graduates with her associates in 2024, she plans to pursue a degree in radiology. (Photo Courtesy ASPSF) 

ASPSF’s flexible scholarships of up to $1,200 helps single parents pay for the biggest financial obstacles to obtaining a degree that leads to a career with family-supporting wages. The monetary aid is paired with mentoring, financial instruction, and career coaching — the soft skill training that transforms students into sought-after employees. 

Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund Fall 2022 recipient Sherlisa of Jonesboro is a strategic communication major at Arkansas State University. (Photo Courtesy ASPSF) 

“The Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund has opened a door and the prospect of a brighter future, and it will play a key role in shaping me into a successful person in the future,” Bailey said. “[These scholarships] make life brighter for all single parents.” 

So far in 2022, ASPSF has distributed more than $1 million in scholarships to over 1,000 single parents in 68 counties and has hosted hundreds of professional-development workshops. 

Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund Fall 2022 recipients gather at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville for an awards ceremony. (Photo Courtesy ASPSF) 

This investment strengthens communities with viable economic impact and emboldens entire families to imagine a brighter future. Because as the children of ASPSF scholarship recipients witness their parent working hard to pursue a better life through education, the likelihood of them pursuing higher education after their own high school completion increases, often breaking a generational cycle of poverty. 

Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund Fall 2022 recipients Shynetra Tripp and Sandi Hillard receive their scholarships at the Central Arkansas Library System Main Library in Little Rock. Shynetra is in the nursing Program at the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College, and Sandi is studying for her bachelor’s in nursing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. (Photo Courtesy ASPSF) 

Single parents are eligible for ASPSF scholarships if their household income is typically not more than 250% of Federal Poverty Guidelines, maintain at least a 2.0 GPA, and have not previously earned a bachelor’s degree, among other requirements. 

Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund Fall 2022 recipient Christopher Dunn (left) is a general studies major at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Volunteer Dave Stevens presents him with his scholarship at the UAFS Windgate Theater. (Photo Courtesy ASPSF) 

Staff members have begun reviewing the hundreds of scholarship applications for next year and will begin awarding Spring 2023 scholarships in the coming months. ASPSF’s next scholarship application period is Jan. 15 to March 15, 2023 for the Summer 2023 semester. 

Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund Fall 2022 recipient Jessica Rotenbury is studying for her bachelor’s in nursing at Arkansas Tech University. (Photo Courtesy ASPSF) 

For more information about Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund — which has awarded more than $30 million in scholarships across the state to single parents since 1990 — contact ASPSF Communications Director Jen Para at jpara@aspsf.org or 479.318.2885 

About Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund: For more than 30 years, Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund has worked to create stronger, more educated, and more self-sufficient families. Through scholarships and services, ASPSF opens doors for low-income single parents, helping them pursue education, secure employment, and transform the future for their families. With the help of volunteers and community support, ASPSF creates multigenerational change, transforming lives for both single parents and their children. For information about scholarships, volunteer opportunities, and ways to give, visit www.aspsf.org.