It’s difficult for someone with a child at home to enter or return to college.
Tuition costs seemingly keep increasing. Reliable child care is tricky to lock down. And navigating a work-life-family-school balance is a challenging juggling act.
“The burden has become on the side of the colleges — in a good way,” said Heather Starr Fiedler, managing director of Point Park University’s Center for Civic and Community Engagement. “We are talking about how students can be successful beyond their degree and become gainfully employed without colleges just asking them to come to class.
“All the pieces need to come together for them to be successful.”
In an effort to make completing college more attainable for parents, the state awarded $150,000 each to Point Park, Seton Hill University and the Community College of Allegheny County through the state’s Parent Pathways grant program. Only 11 colleges statewide earned funding this year.
“Education is a large investment in someone’s life,” said Brett Miller, director of graduate and online studies at Seton Hill. “My hope with the Parent Pathways grant is we can change the lives of our students and help them lower their debt.”
With the funding, Point Park plans to establish a Reentry and Completion Hub — REACH, for short — to act as a central hub for parenting students and help them with access to resources such as basic needs or food insecurities, child care, health and financial supports.
Fiedler said the hub will complement existing resources already on campus. She anticipates it being open to students this fall.
In the future, it could grow to support other non-traditional college students, like veterans, Fiedler said.
“There are so many factors that go into whether someone can go in and complete their college education,” Fiedler said. “This reentry hub is designed to support these students.”
More than 140 Point Park students are parents, Fiedler said.
“It’s all part of a larger push to do what we can to help support our students,” Fiedler said. “If we’re going to bring them in and take their money and have them work toward a degree, we need to keep our end of the promise.”
CCAC and Seton Hill plan to use their funding to support grants available to students who are parents. State funding will help CCAC expand its Parent Pathways Scholars program, said Dorothy Collins, the college’s vice president for enrollment services.
In turn, that will increase access to financial and wraparound support for parents who are nearing degree completion or a workforce credential.
Collins said the grant will address “significant unmet demand” by serving 40 to 50 parenting students through scholarships that will close remaining gaps in tuition, fees and education-related expenses.
In addition to direct financial support, parenting students will get individualized support from advisors, Collins said.
CCAC will also partner with Pittsburgh Scholar House, a nonprofit that supports single parents pursuing a college degree while raising children. Point Park also works with Pittsburgh Scholar House, which provides family-centered services like navigating benefits, referrals for childcare and housing referrals, and ongoing case management.
“Through this investment, CCAC will scale an evidence-based model that improves persistence, accelerates completion, and promotes long-term family stability, ensuring that parenting students are not forced to choose between their education and caregiving responsibilities,” she said in a statement.
Seton Hill’s funds will go toward its existing fund designed to support educational costs for parenting students, Miller said.
There has been an increase among parenting learners seeking Seton Hill’s grants, he said. This year, 33 parenting learners received funding, and 40 students have applied for next year.
Parenting learners make up about 45% of students working toward an online bachelor’s degree, equal to around 80 or 90 people, Miller said.
“Our goal, at the end of the day in higher education, is to ensure we’re providing a high-quality education and that they’re ready when they enter the workplace,” he said.