Housing holds back moms in college
To live independently, single mothers need an education. But to get one, they also need a place to live and child care – needs that colleges are waking up to.
from the April 26, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Last fall, Anne Stevenson, a 2006 graduate of Tufts, formed the Tufts Alliance for the Advancement of Mothers to advocate for housing. Explaining that dozens of mothers drop out of school each year because they lack housing, she says, "Without an education, they cannot make a better life for their families."
As she studied for a degree in political science, Ms. Stevenson held two jobs, carried a full course load, and cared for her young son. Because she could not live on campus with him, she paid $1,500 a month for an apartment in a high-crime neighborhood of Somerville, Mass. Even with a full academic scholarship, she accumulated $35,000 in loans and debts.
At Endicott College in Peabody, Mass., seven mothers and their children live in apartments designed specifically for parents. The dormitory features a playroom inside and a play yard outside. Next year a custodial father and his child will join the program.
"Two of the mothers are honor students, and two freshmen made the dean's list," says Jill Sullivan, director of the Keys to Degrees program. "They have quite a stressful schedule and workload, and they get it done."
Richard Wylie, Endicott's president and creator of the program, notes another advantage. "It's important that other students see these single mothers as not just the beneficiaries of federal aid and state aid," he says. "They want to be independent."
Expressing disappointment that more colleges do not see this as an opportunity, he adds, "What would we save in all the subsidies of life if we could give them an education and make them independent?"
Now Endicott and seven other schools with full residential programs for mothers are forming an alliance. "We want the government and other schools to see the need for this and how it can work on a college campus," Ms. Sullivan says. Members include Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa.; College Misericordia in Dallas, Pa.; Texas College in Tyler; Berea College in Kentucky; Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio; College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Neb.; and Saint Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Va.
At Baldwin-Wallace, nearly three-quarters of the mothers who start the residential program earn degrees. "People have gone on to become accountants, lawyers, college administrators," says George Richard, director of college relations.
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