SLCC Receives Grant to Expand Student Child Care Services
SALT LAKE CITY (PRWEB) October 11, 2018 -- The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Salt Lake Community College a four-year, $1.1 million grant to expand its Tim & Brenda Huval Child Care Center at the school’s South City Campus.
Funds from the grant, which is part of the federal Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) program, will allow the college to expand center hours until 10 p.m. on weekdays, hire more full-time staff, and add classrooms at the facility, effectively doubling capacity to 180 enrolled children.
The college will match the four-year grant by applying $390,000, or 36 percent of the project cost, for student childcare vouchers and to support one-time renovation and ongoing program costs. The federal grant makes up 64 percent of project costs and runs through September 2022.
SLCC’s ultimate goal for the center’s expansion is to increase college retention and completion among its student parents by making childcare more accessible and cost-effective. Currently, 39 percent of Pell Grant recipients at SLCC support dependents, and single parents made up 43 percent the school’s student parent population during the 2017-18 year. In order to use the services at the Tim and Brenda Huval Child Care Center, student parents must be Pell Grant eligible, and they are required to meet with an academic advisor at least once, promoting enrollment in courses that advance academic and career progress.
“For students who have children at SLCC, this means that they can focus their attention from juggling the cost of child care to successfully finishing their educational goals,” says Holly Garcia, director of the center. “They will be able to afford to take more classes, have child care while they study and graduate with less debt. This can make all the difference in the world.”
Salt Lake Community College is an accredited, student-focused, comprehensive community college and serves more than 60,000 students each year. SLCC is Utah’s leading provider of workforce development programs, and the largest supplier of transfer students to the state’s four-year institutions. The college is also a top 10 college nationally for total associate degrees awarded and the leading provider of applied technology courses in the Salt Lake area.
Stephen Speckman, Salt Lake Community College, http://www.slcc.edu, +1 801-957-5076, [email protected]
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