By Lauren Lumpkin
Free evening care services will be offered Monday through Thursday at no cost to students who receive Pell grants, a need-based grant for low-income students.
The federal funds AACC secured are renewable for up to four years, said Klenkel. The grant will also support tuition assistance for children enrolled in daytime and evening childcare programs, as well as a parent support group and professional development for staff.
Anne Arundel is one of four Maryland community colleges that won the U.S. Department of Education-funded grant. Baltimore City, Hagerstown and Wor-Wic also secured federal funds to start childcare programs of their own.
Nearly half of student-parents — about 2.1 million — are enrolled at public two-year institutions, according to data from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. They represent 30 percent of the total community college student body.
But students with kids are among the least likely to obtain a degree, regardless of the type of institution they attend. About 32 percent of student-parents graduate with degrees or certificates, according to the same IWPR study.
