The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

• Headlines
• Sports
• Forums
• Weather
• Classifieds

• Help
• Log in
• Home

• E-mail story
• Post a comment
• iPod friendly version

This is the third and last in a series about the challenges of teenage pregnancy.

For a single parent, the struggle of raising a child might preclude any plans for college. But for those who decide to take that leap, there are programs and scholarships available at Emporia State University to help them pursue an education while juggling the demands of parenthood.

ESU offers a scholarship specifically geared toward single parents. The Single Parents with Children Scholarship was established in 2007 with a nearly half-million dollar gift from Paula Sauder.

Sauder, who graduated from ESU in 1968, said she established the scholarship to emphasize the importance of education. During her childhood, she accompanied her mother to Emporia from Hutchinson while her mother took summer classes in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.

Sauder spent enough time on campus to develop an affection for ESU, and the experience of watching her mother work toward a degree while raising children had a long-term affect on her. Though she wasn’t raised in a single-parent family — Sauder’s father stayed in Hutchinson while her mother studied here — Sauder developed a respect for those willing to put themselves through school while taking care of a family.

Sauder said she considers the scholarship a win-win situation for the students who benefit from it, as well as their children and the university itself.

“Naturally, when I was picking a college, I wanted to come to Emporia,” Sauder said. “I think if single-parent children can see their parent succeed and at the same time learn the environment, they’ll want to do the same, and hopefully they’ll pick Emporia State as the place to go.”

The scholarship provides $2,000 per academic year for single parents with custody of their children who are enrolled as full-time students. Six scholarships are given out to single parents each year.

Another possibility for money to attend college is the Pell Grant. The grant can range from $400 to $4,000 and is available for students pursuing their first bachelor’s degree. Other grants and a variety of student loans are available through ESU’s office of financial aid.

Another major concern for single parents wanting to attend college is child care.

Emporia State University operates the Center for Early Childhood Education in the Butcher Education Center at 15th Avenue and Merchant Street. The center serves a dual purpose — to provide day care for children, including children of ESU students and faculty, and to offer real-life experience for students who aspire to be early childhood special education teachers.

According to its Web site, the center is licensed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to provide care for children from 1 year through school age. The center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and offers special rates for ESU students.