Many older adults thinking about going back to school have questions about financial aid. In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Beckie Supiano offers helpful tips to financial aid advisers working with mature students, suggesting that they communicate early with students, giving them a complete picture of how the financial aid system works and their options.

Fifteen community colleges have been awarded Encore Career Grants to support new or existing programs aimed at retraining boomers for careers in health, education and social services. See which colleges were awarded the grant.

The Community College Encore Career Grants are awarded to innovative colleges that identify social-purpose jobs available in the community – such as adjunct faculty, community health workers and pharmacist technicians – and prepare boomers to fill them.

Since 2007, 40 colleges have each been awarded a $25,000 Community College Encore Career Grant to develop and implement programs that help boomers recareer for encore careers in education, health, social services and the new green economy. Programs have ranged from weekend workshops and job fairs, to hybrid online and in-person courses, to fast-track credential programs that help boomers become teachers and caregivers.

Civic Ventures and MetLife have teamed up to award seven new grants to community colleges helping experienced adults get on the fast track to careers in health and education, including becoming teachers, adjunct college instructors, caregivers and clinical nursing instructors. Read the press release.

The grants come on the heels of a new report by Northeastern University labor economist Barry Bluestone which found that, after the recession ends, there will likely be more health and education jobs than people to fill them. And while jobs are tight now, health and education fields continue to have openings. Learn about the research.

Sonoma State University in Northern California is introducing a one-year certification program to prepare graduates to become “patient navigators,” a growing profession that ranked high in a recent study of emerging encore careers.

Offered in partnership with Sonoma County’s Integrative Medical Clinic Foundation, the one-year program will debut in the fall of 2010. It is open to participants nationwide. Courses will be mostly online, with live meetings one weekend per month at Sonoma State University, which is located in Rohnert Park, Calif., just north of San Francisco.

A professor at St. Louis Community College in Missouri has turned up a wealth of information about programs focused on educating older adults. Although he attempted to focus on programs aimed at adults age 65 and older, he found the data for this age group is usually combined with offerings for the 50+ population. You can download the report here.

The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) helps nonprofit professionals put technology to work for their causes. NTEN Webinars are listed here; to qualify for a $60 pass which is good for one free Webinar at the member rate, enter coupon code Encore-60 in the discount field in the online shopping cart.

Thinking about becoming a teacher? Want to connect with other teachers around the country or just get a glimpse into classroom life? Check out the “TeachersCount” Web site and blog. TeachersCount is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise the status of the teaching profession and provide resources to the education community.

The Encore Program at the Center for Creative Aging at Harold Washington College offers a series of career programs, including courses in nursing, social work, and child development.

Educate VA.com is a fast track alternative licensure program, a statewide initiative to address critical shortages in the teaching profession throughout the state.