Bergen Community College Uses Funding To Help Student Parents

PARAMUS, NJ — Bergen Community College will offer tuition-free enrollment to the college's on-campus early childhood learning facility to 25 student-parents, the college announced this week.

According to officials, the decision comes after students expressed a need for childcare due to the pandemic. Those officials notified more than 500 eligible student-parents earlier this month.

“In today’s environment, colleges must focus on holistic approaches to serving students,” Bergen President Eric M. Friedman said. “Colleges must examine the barriers students face in completing their degrees – including challenges related to housing, health and wellness and childcare. By taking this approach of supporting ‘the whole student,’ rather than just addressing scholastic needs, we exponentially increase their opportunities to become successful.”

The College will use $153,000 in federal funding from two sources to sponsor the tuition-free enrollments.

The first, the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan, will cover 10 of the spots, with the U.S. Department of Education’s Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant program funding the other 15.

The preschool offers early childhood education for 45 children ages two- to five-years-old each semester. Without the funding, student-parents pay $180 per week for their child to attend the center.

This isn't the first time the college has used federal funding to address student financial concerns.

The college recently used funding to forgive roughly $5 million in student loans. College officials said the forgiveness initiative will impact more than 2,000 students. Read more: Bergen Community College Forgives $5 Million Of Student Debt

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