By Jennifer Adkins

Staff Writer

Moms working paycheck to paycheck with very little opportunity to get a job promotion represent a silent crisis rippling through our economy, according to Helen MacDermott, content director for education dynamics of Project Working Mom.

Project Working Mom aims to be a catalyst for communities that want to establish resources for the working mother population, Ms. MacDermott said.

The project has launched two scholarship campaigns, Jan. 29-April 30 and June 23-Aug. 31, which offer full rides to college through online education.

American Sentinel University, Ashford University, Capella University, Everest University and Penn Foster College have donated $2 million to each of the scholarship campaigns. The first campaign attracted more than 50,000 applications. (For more information see www.elearners.com/projectworkingmom.)

Stacey Massengale, a Chattanooga applicant, is a single mother of three and also is raising two granddaughters. She said she wants to finish school to be an example to her family and advance in her career. Ms. Massengale wants to pursue a degree in organizational management.

“I can’t break away from my primary motherly duties,” she said. “With an online education, you can choose the day and time, and you are not taking away from the home environment.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 84 percent of the 8.3 million single mothers in America, do not have a college degree. Also, 27 percent of working mothers earn less than $10,000 salary.

“These women are petrified of going into further debt,” Ms. MacDermott said.

“It is either tuition or groceries at this point,” Ms. Massengale said. “I can’t afford (my children’s) college education. My son is going into his freshman year in high school, which gives me another four years to worry about how to pay for his college.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women with bachelor’s degrees earn 80 percent more than women with only high school diplomas.

Ms. MacDermott said online education has been incredibly successful for her. She said while her daughter is downstairs coloring a picture, she is working on class work online.

“My job is to tell moms if I can do it, they can do it,” Ms. MacDermott said. “Education is increasingly important and it is the one thing no one can take away from you.”

However, Ms. MacDermott said she has received more than a few angry letters from single dads. She said Project Working Mom is working on a response to provide financial assistance to single fathers, but working moms are their main focus because of the statistics.

Project Working Mom developed from a $1,500 scholarship giveaway with Women’s World Magazine. Applicants had to write essays explaining their home situation and career goals. The magazine received over 10,000 essays, according to Ms. MacDermott.

“A huge theme we saw was a lot of single moms writing in because they were stuck in dead-end jobs,” she said. “They were the most crucial persons who could benefit from the scholarship.”

Now applicants can apply online at www.projectworkingmom.com by filling in their financial information and writing an essay outlining their career ambitions.

According to Ms. MacDermott, the Web site is also used as a support network between working mothers and addresses the three major barriers for a college education: time, money and confidence. She said the scholarship is used to address the issue of time.

E-mail Jennifer Adkins at jadkins@timesfreepress.com