VSU receives grant to offer affordable childcare for students

ETTRICK, Va. (WWBT) - Virginia State University will receive $1.45 million in funding over the next four years to help enrolled student-parents cover the financial costs of childcare.

VSU is one of four schools to get funds from the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

“This grant is going to support so many of our student parents,” said Regina Barnett Tyler, Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Engagement at Virginia State University. “Imagine a student who is a single parent that has to make the decision between going to class and staying home and taking care of their kid. They don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

At the moment, Tyler estimates this grant will be able to support at least 25 to 30 students a year financially with childcare.

“We’re going to use the sliding scale, so some students may have a greater need than others,” she said.

Tyler said VSU would be able to support student-parents through the form of stipends to help them cover daycare costs.

“If a student is already connected to a child care center, we want them to be able to take their students where they’re comfortable, and we will support them through a stipend with their childcare costs,” she said.

In addition, Tyler adds that VSU will be able to offer student-parents various services to ensure their success in the classroom.

“Academic advising, tutoring, supplemental services like career services,” said Tyler.

The funding from the grant will go to support student-parents like Kameko Coleman, a junior studying mass communications at Virginia State University.

“It would be a tremendous help because I’m not a traditional student,” she said.

Coleman says this would be beneficial to help her get childcare for her 10-year-old son as she takes classes.

“I have to get him when I get off of work, so I had to actually drop some classes this semester that were at five and six at night because I had no one to watch him,” Coleman said.

For student-parents in her shoes, Coleman said this effort would go a long way to ensure they can get the necessary resources.

“I’m just appreciative of the program,” she said.

The targeted start date for the CCAMPIS program assistance for the spring semester is January 2023. Current VSU student-parents enrolled full-time at the university can email the Department of Student Success and Engagement at dsse@vsu.edu who need financial support for childcare.

Other schools to receive the CCAMPIS grant funding are Norfolk State University, Tidewater Community College and Germanna Community College.

Copyright 2022 WWBT. All rights reserved.