Los grupos que abogan por la equidad en la educación superior se están pronunciando a favor de un proyecto de ley en la Legislatura de California para garantizar que las ofertas de ayuda financiera universitaria tengan en cuenta los costos adicionales que enfrentan los estudiantes que tienen hijos.

Se estima que los padres estudiantes tienen que gastar $7.500 adicionales al año en comparación con los que no son padres, para cubrir el cuidado de los niños, la vivienda, el transporte y la comida.

Su Jin Jez es directora ejecutiva de la organización sin fines de lucro California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy.

"Aborda la asequibilidad de la universidad al realizar ajustes en la ayuda financiera para que los padres estudiantes cubran el costo real que enfrentan para asistir a la universidad. Y la otra pieza tiene que ver con mejorar la recopilación de datos," explicó Jez.

El proyecto de ley 2458 no tiene oposición registrada. Ha sido aprobado por la Asamblea estatal y está avanzando hacia el Senado estatal.

Jez dice que cuatro millones de padres en California tienen un diploma de escuela secundaria pero no un título universitario. Alrededor de 400.000 padres estudiantes están matriculados en la educación superior. Unos 300.000 de ellos son estudiantes universitarios y el 61% son estudiantes universitarios de primera generación.

"Servirles realmente ayuda a lograr resultados más equitativos, no solo para los padres estudiantes, sino también para sus hijos, enfatizó Jez. El nivel educativo de los padres es uno de los mejores predictores de si un hijo irá o no a la universidad."

California Competes se asoció recientemente con Ed Trust-West para lanzar California Alliance for Student Parents Success, una coalición de padres estudiantes, líderes educativos y defensores.

Apoyo para esta historia fue proporcionado por la Fundación Lumina.


get more stories like this via email

College financial aid experts in Massachusetts say this year's phased rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid should be error free.

The revised form, which unlocks student loans and grants for millions of American students will be tested by select schools starting in October before a full launch on Dec. 1.

Julie Shields-Rutyna, director of college planning for the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, said she feels optimistic families will avoid the stress of last school year's technical debacle.

"Hopefully, most of those glitches are fixed," Shields-Rutyna stressed. "Hopefully the dream of the simplified FAFSA will start to be realized this year."

She pointed out students can get a jump start on their college plans by registering for upcoming admissions and financial aid webinars designed to help families more easily navigate what can often be a stressful process.

A recent survey of nearly 400 private colleges and universities revealed FAFSA delays and technical errors may have already altered this fall's incoming class. Roughly 75% of schools reported changes in the composition of their first-year students while more than 40% said enrollment is down from last year.

Shields-Rutyna observed students with parents lacking Social Security numbers suffered numerous delays while some students are still waiting to finalize their financial aid awards.

"Some of those students who had so many problems," Shields-Rutyna acknowledged. "They might have made other decisions because it was just, just too much to get through."

She added aid experts saw firsthand the challenges many students experienced in trying to determine whether they could afford college. Fortunately, the aid experts also experienced the FAFSA glitches and are better prepared to help families with any potential issues that lay ahead.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


get more stories like this via email

Student parents at New Mexico's community colleges represent a significant portion of the postsecondary population.

And while the state has taken steps to help them, graduation is an uphill climb.

A study across nine New Mexico higher state education institutions by the research center Child Trends, found most parents pursuing an advanced degree are taking six-to-11 credit hours.

The nonprofit's Senior Research Scientist Renee Ryberg said most have more than one child - which means they're balancing kids, academics and a job.

"Three-quarters of them are working, and to make all that fit in the 24 hours in a day," said Ryberg, "they're going to school largely part-time - 85% are pursuing degrees and certificates."

Ryberg said almost 60% of student parents work at least 30 hours a week.

In New Mexico, three-quarters of student parents are mothers and 33% say they have no formal child care, while the same percentage relies on unpaid relatives or friends.

The National Conference of State Legislatures says without access to child care, many student parents may miss classes and drop out.

Ryberg said community colleges offer students higher educational opportunities with less financial strain, more flexible schedules and smaller class sizes.

Currently, tuition and fees for full-time, in-state enrollment at a public two-year college average about $4,000 per year, compared to $11,000 at a public four-year institution.

Nonetheless, Ryberg said many parents, especially women eventually benefit from a few more years in the classroom.

"If that single mom has an associate's degree, she earns $367,000 more across her lifetime," said Ryberg, "and if she has a bachelor's degree, she earns more than $600,000 more across her lifetime than a single mom with a high school degree."

A recent report on best community colleges by the personal finance site, WalletHub, lists Santa Fe Community College and Southeast New Mexico College as 4th and 5th in the nation.

San Juan college nabbed 15th place among the country's top 20.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.




get more stories like this via email

A new partnership is making it easier for students at Dallas College to transfer to a four-year university.

The college has joined forces with Texas A-and-M University-Commerce, Texas Woman's University and the University of North Texas-Dallas to form the Dallas Transfer Collaborative.

Justin Lonon, chancellor of Dallas College, said a new hub connects all four institutions to a centralized portal, streamlining the transfer process.

"It also provides technology that will allow students to go, 'Hey, you know, here are the courses I've taken at Dallas College,' and here's how those courses will plug into the broad array of programs at these universities," Lonon outlined.

The program is partially funded by the Commit Partnership's Opportunity 2040 Fund, which aims to reduce child poverty in Dallas County by half and double the number of young adults making a living wage.

More than 64,000 students are enrolled in the seven Dallas College campuses. Lonon explained they hope the hub will help more of those students continue their education after leaving community college.

"Nearly half of our students come to us and say they have an intent to transfer but only about one in four does so over a three-year time period," Lonon pointed out. "There can be many reasons for that but what we don't want for there to be institutional barriers between our university partners."

Lonon noted they hope to add more universities to the group and the program will be a model for other universities across the nation.


get more stories like this via email