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Students with disabilities have a lot to think about when it comes to planning for college. Along with these specific concerns, students with disabilities have many of the same concerns that other students have when planning for college, such as studying for the SATs, filling out applications and financing the college experience. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the average price for undergraduate tuition, room and board at a public institution for the 2007-2008 academic year was $11,578. Many of the postsecondary financial aid opportunities are open to all students, yet there are many that are specifically meant for students with disabilities. In this article, we'll review the four main types of financial aid -- loans, grants, scholarships and work-study -- focusing on when there are special opportunities or concerns for students with disabilities. First, we'll take a look at loans. Student loans consist of borrowed funds from the government or other lending institution to be used for educational purposes.
These funds usually have some type of interest rate, along with a specified repayment plan. This information, along with a number of different factors, will determine the amount of funds that you're eligible to receive. One of the main factors that can be different for students with disabilities in this calculation is the cost of attendance. The latter can range from an personal note taker to the costs associated with disability documentation, yet these costs shouldn't already be covered by another source of aid. These costs are usually determined on a case-by-case basis and require documentation of the needed services. Sometimes federal loans, and other forms of financial aid, don't fulfill the full amount of financial support needed to pay for a student's education. Private student loans are another option. Private loans usually come from banks or lenders. However, grants do tend to have more criteria associated with receiving the funds. Grants can come from many sources, including the federal government, state governments and postsecondary institutions. One of the most widely utilized grant programs is the Federal Pell Grant, which also provides a good example of another consideration that students with disabilities may miss if they're not careful. Student eligibility and funding amounts from the Pell Grant program are based on the FAFSA form and several other factors. Yet, a student will receive less than this amount if they don't meet the enrollment criteria, and this can't be modified even if a student has disabilities that makes achieving this criteria difficult. This plan may include postsecondary education to meet the individual's employment goals. Susan Sherman, assistant vocational rehabilitation director at the Georgia Department of Labor.
Kwanzaa, a seven-day holiday that celebrates African-American heritage, is the brainchild of Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana Studies at California State University Long Beach. Karenga created Kwanzaa as a way to help African-Americans remember their roots and also to foster unity during a time of incredible racial strife. Karenga, a controversial figure in the black power movement, openly opposed Christian beliefs and originally declared that Kwanzaa should be an anti-Christmas of sorts. Each of the seven days represents one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or nguzo saba. There are also seven symbols of Kwanzaa, which celebrants display prominently in their homes throughout the holiday. The colors of Kwanzaa are red, black and green -- the colors of the Pan-African flag, which symbolizes unity among African people all over the world. Black represents the people, red their blood and green the earth and the future. Kwanzaa is, of course, a festive time; it has all the feasting and celebrating you'd expect from a weeklong holiday, but it's also an occasion for reflection, conversation, contemplation and camaraderie.
And although it's a relatively young holiday, it has its fair share of very specific, detailed traditions. So, if you don't know your vibunzi from your mishumaa saba, this is a good place to start! We'll start off with the foundation of Kwanzaa: the seven principles. Each day of Kwanzaa represents one of the seven principles, or nguzo saba. Taken together, the seven principles make up kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. During the evening candlelighting (which we'll talk about in more detail on the next page), everyone in the group explains what the day's principles means to them and how they tried to apply it that day. There might be an activity based on the principle, like a project, a musical performance or a poetry reading. The answer to the question "Habari gani?" (Swahili for "what's the news?") is always the name of that day's principle. When Kwanzaa started, the intention was -- as a part of the kujichagulia principle of self-determination -- to keep it separate from non-African holidays.
But over the years, more and more African-American families have begun celebrating Kwanzaa along with Christmas and New Year's. Why all the Swahili? There are hundreds of African languages, but Dr. Karenga chose to use Swahili for Kwanzaa terms because it's the most widely spoken language on the continent. Along with the seven principles of Kwanzaa come the seven symbols. Mkeka (mat): The mkeka is woven from a traditional African material, probably straw, kente (a silk and cotton blend) cloth or mud (cotton fabric dyed using mud) cloth. Mazao (crops): The fruits, vegetables and nuts laid on the mkeka symbolize work, the harvest and the nourishment of the tribe. Vibunzi (ear of corn): Corn represents fertility and community child-rearing. Each child in the family is represented by an ear of corn on the mkeka (if there's more than one ear, the group is called a mihindi). If there aren't any kids in the household, two ears of corn are still placed to show that everyone is responsible for the community's children.
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