Listen to MP3
Listen in RealAudio
A listener in Nigeria has a question about financial aid for blind and visually impaired college students in America. S.A. Ogunlowo in Ile-Ife wants to know if visually impaired foreign students can get a full scholarship as an undergraduate.
Financial aid programs in the United States, especially at the undergraduate level, do often require American citizenship. At the same time, scholarships often pay only part of the cost of an education. The National Federation of the Blind advises students to contact any school they wish to attend to ask about financial aid.
The federation is the country's largest group for the blind. Each year it awards scholarships that do not have any citizenship requirements. Students must be legally blind. And foreign students cannot apply until a college in the United States has already accepted them.
The application deadline was March 31 for 30 scholarships offered for this fall. Most are 3,000 dollars. The highest is 12,000 dollars.
The United States has an estimated one million blind adults. The federation says there are no special colleges or universities for the blind. But schools do offer special services and technology to help students with disabilities.
