The first year at college can be a fun experience; however, this may only be for traditional students. When it comes to students who have a child, going to college can be rough. A lot of people count college out of the question whenever they are expecting and/or already have a child. In reality, that mother or father just looks at that "stumbling block" in their life and makes it their "stepping stone" to doing whatever it takes to provide for their children. That brings me to the fact that our country just makes their stepping stone a harder one to step up on.
In Arkansas alone, there are a total of 47 in-state colleges. This is great, right? Well, out of those 47 colleges, there is a total of only nine colleges that provide family housing. I'm glad to say that my university, Southern Arkansas University, provides family housing... but is this enough?
Providing family housing on campus does two things: it allows for parents to get a well balanced education while providing for their children, and it boosts the university's net worth and favorability. Imagine being known as the university that provides for all types of incoming students and also an increase in the rate of enrollment each year!
Yet, of the nine colleges offering family housing, only three of them provide an on-campus daycare. Providing a daycare also allows for many things, such as a place for student and faculty children who aren't old enough for public school to be while learning and/or work is in progress, a flexible schedule for parents, and providing a way for students without transportation to get their children to a safe environment for the day.
So everything that was good about having family housing just went out of the window? Why? Well I sat down and spoke with a close friend of mine (who will remained unnamed) who has a child and also lived in the family housing system on campus. I asked her some questions and here are her responses. Hopefully this answers that "Why" question!
"Why did you choose SAU?"
"I chose SAU ONLY because of family housing. We needed something close to campus. And even though I feel like the housing is overpriced, we end up come out cheaper doing family housing. It's $5,200 a semester. It includes water, lights, wifi, etc..."
"How important is family housing to you?"
"It's pretty important because we can't afford to live off-campus. Paying rent plus utilities. Then we would have to get back and forth to campus."
"If you could change one thing about family housing what would it be?"
"I wish it were cheaper. The other dorms are paying like $960 for the summer total. The court is $2,200. More than double! They don't respond to requests quickly. Like you'll have to call back several times to get one thing done. I also wish we weren't right next to the Mule Barn. The music is so loud that my bedroom wall vibrates."
"What are your thoughts about having a daycare on campus?"
"Daycare on campus would be a HUGE help! They just assume that you can drive your child there, but I don't drive. Or have a friend take you, but I don't have friends. I'm fortunate enough to have a daycare worker to take him, but I lucked out. I have to go off of other people's schedule. She can only pick him up at 7 a.m., and bring him back at 5:30 p.m. So I pay for an all-day service even if I only have one class. If they had daycare on campus, I could pay for half a day because he would only be there while I was in class. But most days, I'd have him there full days because I like for him to get the social interaction."
As you can see, family housing is a beneficial part of college campuses. It would be great if all campuses were like this, or at least a good percentage of them. I know that this is one voice out of millions, but how much should it take for measures to be taken to provide education for all? Something that can never be taken from anyone. That's just the first step! Adding a daycare would help so much as well! Hopefully in the future this is also a possibility for SAU's campus.
