June Anderson Center’s Child Care Grants Available to Help MTSU Student Parents

School psychology graduate student Rosie Allen wasn’t sure how she was going to juggle attending Middle Tennessee State University with four young children at home.

“A lot of my classes were after school and in the evening and my husband couldn’t help,” said 36-year-old Allen, mother to children ages 10, 9, 6 and 4.

They needed child care, but the average cost to enroll one child in preschool or day care hovers around $3,600 a semester — similar to the cost for a full course load at MTSU.

Child care grants from MTSU’s June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students are helping financially challenged families like the Allens achieve educational goals.

Applications are open for fall semester.

“Our application opened May 15 and goes through July 28 for the fall semester and then in November and December, applications open for being dispersed in January,” explained Maigan Wipfli, director of June Anderson Center.

Wipfli said parents must have a current FAFSA completed and be Pell-eligible. If approved, parents can receive $1,000 in tuition per child enrolled in a state-licensed preschool or day care and $250 per child for before/after-school care.

Statistics from the Women’s Policy Research note that 22% of undergraduates and a disproportionate number of those college students are in marginalized groups. Those undergraduates also shoulder more expenses than traditional students, such as cost of living and exorbitant child care costs that often hinder degree completion.

Although the grants from the JAC cover about a quarter of the child care costs, Allen said the extra help to her family’s budget is welcomed.

For the 2022-23 academic, Allen received a total of $4,250 to use for all four children. Two attended a Montessori preschool while the other two participated in the Murfreesboro City Schools extended-school program.

“They definitely helped make it more possible for me to return to school,” said Allen, who is pursuing an education specialist degree (Ed.S.) in school psychology through the Department of Psychology within the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the JAC financial support and scholarship.”

In addition to the child care fund, the JAC provided supplies through the center’s back-to-school giveaway, activities the family could do at home, and connected the family with the university’s Little Raiders Christmas gift-giving program.

“It’s been helpful knowing that I had that community to reach out to,” Allen said. “It was almost like they are saying, ‘We believe in you, we support you and we want to help you get a degree and a career. Without that support, you feel alone.”

Although secondary school students don’t return for two more months, JAC is currently accepting donations for the supply giveaway. Collection boxes are located in the JAC, located in the Student Union Building room 330, the Career Center in Keathley University Center room 328, MT One Stop, James E. Walker Library, the College of Education third floor near the elevators and the Academic Classroom Building first floor.

A supply list can be found on the June Anderson Center webpage under the Nontraditional Students tab, Parent Resources dropdown. Monetary donations can also be made to help with programs and services at JAC.