Most college students have a lot on their plates. But college students with children are tasked with juggling notebooks with naptime.

Elizabeth Benge, 26, is one of them.

After her divorce, Benge decided to go back to college. The mother of two children under age 6 hadn’t been in a classroom since high school but saw an opportunity to learn new skills at Anne Arundel Community College.

“I finally got the chance to go back to school,” she said. “I’m hoping to figure out what I want to do.”

Student-parents represent a growing population at the college, where the average student is 25-years-old.

Now, thanks to a federal grant designed to help colleges and universities expand child care services, the college this semester will start offering free daytime and evening care to low-income students. More than $98,000 will be pumped into the program.

“The main goal of this is to help keep student-parents in school and moving toward graduation and their goals,” said Janet Klenkel, director of the college’s Child Development Center. “They can use the child care for an evening class, or even to just get some quiet study time in.”

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 that the community college 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 child care 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.

Single parents fare worse, with a 26 percent graduation rate.

But affordable childcare could make a difference.

Since starting school and a full-time job, Benge said she’s been relying on her best friend and ex-husband to help care for her kids — Brayden, 5, and Avyn, 2.

“Without it, I have no idea what I would be doing and how I would find the time to study and do some homework,” Benge said. “It’s really hard, especially because I have no family out here.”

This semester marks the first time the community college has offered evening child care since nixing its old program due to low enrollment.

That old program came with a price tag and Klenkel suspects no-cost services will entice parents who, otherwise, could not afford childcare.

“We’re really hoping the fact that this is free will make a difference for students,” Klenkel said.

llumpkin@capgaznews.com

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