Grant Money to go to Child Care for Students

By Keyon Gardner

Kean University has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the U.S Department of Education in order to have child care concerns but also want to be students,” Dean of the College of Education Barbara R. Ridener, Ph.D. said. “So what this does is allows a student who is well eligible to get free child care at the provide free child care for children of low income students at the University’s Child Care and Development Center.

“The grant was brought to our attention that this was a Department of Education grant that was available to support children of students at universities. We thought this would be perfect for our students who have children that child care center for their children.”

The age demographic of college students does not only pertain to young adults who are fresh out of high school and are looking to get a higher education, but it also includes adults in their mid 20’s or older who are seeking a higher education that they passed up on because of other obligations or financial difficulties.

It is important that we recognize the fallacy that being a college student does not mean partying every weekend. While some choose to spend their weekends out with friends, some are working multiple jobs to help fund their education and/ or provide for themselves, and others are full time parents all year round.

"There's a lot of stigma associated with being a student parent, and colleges have not done enough to remove that stigma," David Croom, assistant director of postsecondary achievement and innovation of Ascend at the Aspen

Institute said.

An analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and Institutional Characteristics Surveys reported that more than 1 in 5 college continued on page 10