Talk about living out their institutional faith. The College of St. Mary in Omaha, a women’s school, is making it much easier for single mothers to start — and finish — college by giving them their own dorm, letting their children eat free on their meal plan and providing free childcare. The Omaha World-Herald tells the story:
College of St. Mary has offered single mothers on-campus housing since 2000, but a dedicated residence hall was built for the Mothers Living and Learning program in 2012. It’s the newest building on campus, and a $10 million investment the college says reflects its commitment to improve the experience and graduation rates for single moms.
Living on campus appears crucial for continuing school: Between 2008 and 2012, less than one in five freshman moms who commuted returned for their second year, but it was nearly half for on-campus moms.
The college’s program has grown over the years from nine students on campus in 2000 to about 22 this year. The new dorm has the capacity for 48 moms, who can have two children under 10 and share their suite-style dorm space with a roommate.
Crucially, the moms get a lot of help:
Sheena Parks, director of single parent success, also teaches a mandatory success class for on-campus moms that covers everything from parenting style to time management to introducing your child to a new boyfriend.
She brings in experts on child custody and support issues for the women, helps them arrange child care and helps them navigate the bureaucracy of financial aid or state benefits.
“The first few weeks, they can get really overwhelmed,” she said. “I just tell them, ‘Get your child to day care and get to class. We’ll deal with the rest.’”
Read the whole article, including adorable anecdotes of 4-year-old Marie McGill running around the dorm.
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
IMAGE: Public domain
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.