[Music]
three months after my son was born the
father of my child decided he no longer
wanted to be a family finding myself
left with nothing but my son and a
strong will to survive I was faced with
two choices give up or become the
Navigator of my own life looking into my
precious child's eyes and fire started
within me and everything became very
clear that's the moment I dedicated
myself to my son and furthering my
education but little did I know the
biggest cost that I would have to endure
with not tuition it was paying for child
care so this leads me to a question for
you does your college or university
offer on-campus childcare according to
the Institute for Women's policy
research also known as iw PR in the
United States an average of 900 students
per campus our parent and an average of
500 of those students are single parents
just like me well that may seem like a
small number the truth is that so many
more of us would go to college if we had
supports in fact over the last decade
almost three times as many student
parents dropped out when compared to non
student parents
imagine how many of us never enroll in
the firstly well the number of student
parents has grown by over a million
people in the last 25 years the number
of on-campus
care facilities has fallen in 36 states
mostly the same places seeing the
largest increase in student parents
nationwide less than half of colleges
and universities currently provide
on-campus childcare for example I'm
giving this talk in the great state of
Arkansas which ranks 46 in terms of
on-campus childcare only offering it at
21 percent of its colleges and
universities matter of fact this campus
isn't one of them now you may be asking
yourself why can't students just pay for
childcare themself honestly if we could
I wouldn't have to be here speaking with
you today but our need for support
significantly outweighs my fear of
public speaking
a study by Eastern Michigan University
illustrates our financial situation by
indicating more than eight out of ten
single parent students regardless of
family size live on less than sixteen
hundred dollars a month and one out of
three make less than eight hundred
dollars per month according to the non
profit child care aware the cost of
child care is more expensive than
in-state tuition in about thirty state
just to illustrate this point it can
cost over seventeen thousand dollars per
year for child care per child wait is it
that the federal poverty guideline for a
family of two no wonder student parents
have a higher student loan debt than non
parent students you see the majority of
single-parent students are low income
and like support from our colleges and
university because of this we are forced
to take out student loan just to pay for
child care sadly even listed it loan
something of a parent student I have to
no choice but to send their children to
unqualified caregivers now can you
imagine trying to focus in class while
you are worried about your child's
well-being recently the child care
center my son has attended for the past
three years was sold and the new owners
increased my monthly rate from two
hundred and fifty dollars to five
hundred and forty dollars with very
little notice I was given only one week
to decide if I could pay this new rate
which is more than two-thirds of my
monthly income now that you are
completely aware of the situation
you should know single mothers struggle
the most and I'm not just saying that
because I am a single mother seriously
our debt is three times higher than non
student parent thirteen percent of
parent they are placed on academic
probation thirty-four percent will
withdraw from at least one class fifty
percent will fail to complete an
assignment fifty-seven of us will miss
class causing our grades to suffer and
eighty one percent of us will lack
adequate studies time just to prove my
point here is a picture of my study time
research from Princeton University show
that only 33 percent of single parent
students will complete a degree within
ten years what happens
well like all students in order to
repair student loans we need a
good-paying job but how can we get there
truth be told we can't our attempts at
investing in ourselves to climb out of a
poverty stricken version of Dante's
Inferno backfires and we end up falling
much deeper into that inferno this is a
key reason why we need the support of
our colleges and universities currently
the childcare access means parents and
school program or campus and the child
care Development Block Grant CDBG our
two programs the government is using as
a band-aid to solve this problem
although both programs are available in
all states campus is woefully
underfunded and the CDBG well it's
highly restrictive obviously our current
government funded programs are not
enough but before discussing possible
solution we must consider the
fundamental requirements of on-campus
childcare centers all student parents
need available childcare for children of
all ages and in order to accommodate all
student parent schedules and allow for
study time these centers must be open
early in the morning and stay open until
late at night and be open on weekends I
cannot stress this enough
we need these childcare centers to be on
campus
allow me to put this into perspective
before pursuing my current degree I was
in nursing school and during that time I
was faced with the choice of dropping
out or being removed from the program
my son's preschool center it opened at
6:30 a.m. unfortunately I had to be at
the hospital across town at the very
same time so at this point you probably
think I'm asking way too much
I would imagine any college or
university vice president of finance
watching this talk is asking themselves
how does she expect us to pay for this
well I'm about to lay it all out for you
we're we're colleges and universities
find and pay staff for on-campus
childcare centers that's simple
follow the lead of a few schools that
already have these facilities require
elementary education majors to use some
of the student teaching hours in the
childcare centers and if we need to pay
for this expense make it an optional
feel like parking so we can use our
grants and scholarships some campuses
may be able to retrofit existing
building however others will have to
build new ones now I won't lie this
isn't going to be a cheap endeavor but
consider the type of foundation that is
being laid in that building there is no
other place in this country where a
child can go to school with a parent and
learn while they are learning - there
once with a time when college students
shared smelly dorms the size of walking
calls it use growth community bathrooms
with showers and exercise and damp
basement that smelled like vomit
and body odor
now campuses are equipped with residence
halls for traditional students that
resemble upscale apartments and
world-class fitness centers equipped
with rock walls lazy rivers and tanning
bed to the college and university
administrators who are listening to me
you are spending millions of dollars on
extravagant facility and at the same
time you are closing childcare centers
so I have to ask you which type of
student are you trying to attract
everyone please take a moment and ask
yourself are high school seniors worth
more than single parents and their
children if the general consensus says
we are equally important
then colleges universities put your
money where your mouth is and provide
on-campus childcare to student parents
because the advantages are tremendous
most importantly it benefits Society
remember when I told you how many
student parents live below the poverty
line adults with higher education are
significantly less likely to be
low-income which is especially helpful
for women because their earnings
increase dramatically with each year of
college completion imagine what would
happen to the economy if millions of
people were able to lift themselves out
of poverty because they graduated
college now it also benefits
post-secondary institution student
parent with on-campus childcare are more
likely to return to school the following
year in our three times more likely to
complete a bachelor's degree on time
than those without does boosting
retention rate now for parents it
simplifies our daily routine and
decreases stress we will spend less time
and money commuting to and from campus
and childcare centers as a result we
won't have to bring our children to
class or worse miss an exam because we
can't find a sitter
nor will we have to worry about our
children being in the hands of
unqualified caregivers now the most
exciting part of this it benefits our
children did you know a mother's
education is the predictor of her
children's educational attainment we all
know children in child care centers run
by Education Department receive the
newest teaching techniques which means
our future generation will be better
educated better prepared and more likely
to attend college now if I had a magic
wand these problems would be fixed
overnight and I most definitely would be
graduating tomorrow unfortunately just
like everyone else in the world I don't
so what can we do before these changes
are made individually we can write our
legislators university presidents and
alumni associations together
we can build a support system this
support system involves extending our
family to include friends other parents
in similar situations professors
community organizations and advocacy
groups above all else we as student
parent single or married have to realize
and accept that it is okay to ask for
help because no one ever accomplished
anything by themselves we all need each
other at some point and when I finally
realized and accepted it was okay to ask
for help I was blessed with a superhero
support system and over the past couple
of years they've become like a family to
me and my son now let me tell you a
little about my poo bear little does he
know he is my reason for everything he
is the reason I am here today conquering
my fear of public speaking he is the
reason I decided to go back to school
after 10 years even though I am disabled
he is the reason I spend so many days in
sleepless night reading textbooks that
need a translator and writing papers
into my fingers or sore he watches and
learn with me as I work on assignment
and I know one day he will watch this
talk remember when I said he is my
reason for everything well he's also my
biggest motivator in life because I know
wholeheartedly my goal of completing my
bachelor's degree and a master's in
social work will make his life better
but I need help to get us there and this
is a commonality I share with other
single parents in the very same
situation as the old saying goes it
takes a village to raise it
at the beginning of this talk I asked
you one question now I'd like to finish
by asking just one more shouldn't your
college or university be a part of that
village thank you