FOR EDUCATION

Check out Federal Student Aid Web Site or FAFSA http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

I suggest you explore all federal funding and grant options at the Federal Student Aid website http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov/

You may also want to read the Handbook of the Pell Grant — this is an 86 page document that contains everything about the grant
http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/attachments/0203Vo3MasterFile.pdf

Or you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/gtepfpg.pdf at 1-800-433-3243 and ask them if there are any programs for you

Aside from FAFSA http://www.fafsa.ed.gov and Pell Grant http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html , you may want to explore private foundation grants

FOR PERSONAL PURPOSES

The government is NOT in the business of giving away free money for the sake of giving away money. There are no grants for paying bills, no grants for paying off credit cards, no grants for getting out of debt and no grants for simply fattening your wallet.

Grants are free, but it means OBLIGATION. You will be obligated to do as the grant sets out to do. Grants have objectives, and your purpose must fit the objective of the grant.

For one, you have to write the grant application and the grant application is not a simple document – you have to explain how your purpose for applying for the grant fits well with the objectives set out by the grant.

There is a stringent review process through a committee. You will compete with other applicants for the grant money, and this grant review committee will evaluate the merits of each proposal. Only those that they feel exemplifies the objective of the grant will be approved.

You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes.

Even if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.

Note though that these grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments. Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program. Individuals especially for personal purposes are not eligible for federal grants.

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs
References :

http://www.grantoneday.org

http://www.freegrantmoney.com

Now these places do ask you to pay for shipping and handling from $1.99 to $2.99 for a kit.

I have gone no further than check out some of the ads.

I know there are many others out there so I would suggest doing a search – "Free Grant Money" or whatever.

Edit: I just got back to the page where your question and my and others’ responses were posted. There are ads right on that page regarding free government grants. So, check them out. You might have to do some "digging" and research but it may be well worth it.

Good luck!!
References :
Curiosity ;o)

Fill out the FAFSA… it gives you a pell grant and stafford loans based on financial need…

You’ll need your and/or your parents’ taxes (theirs if you’re a dependant, I don’t know about if you’re not, but you have to do yours too if you have them, if not jus put "will not file")
References :
The fafsa is free…

UPDATE:
Was reading some other comments and make sure you DO NOT GO TO FAFSA.COM. That web site is not the official financial aid web site and it WILL charge you. .gov is where you need to be
References :
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/