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| Shieen Jackson and her kids (from left to right) Kristian, Kerrington and Kurtis II. Jackson and her husband received a Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grant, providing 50 percent of tuition at The Lowry Center for Early Childhood Education on campus. |
A federal grant is helping Kurtis and Shieen Jackson complete their studies at Oakland University while knowing their two-year-old daughter, Kerrington, is receiving the best possible early childhood education.
The couple, both finance majors, received a Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grant, providing 50 percent of tuition at The Lowry Center for Early Childhood Education on campus.
“The grant made it possible for us to continue with our studies,” explained Kurtis Jackson. “We looked at other alternatives, and the quality didn’t come close to the Lowry program, teachers and curriculum.”
Between 2006 and 2008, the CCAMPIS grant provided 32 children with Lowry scholarships, supplementing 20 to 100 percent of tuition. Full-time tuition is nearly $9,000.
The CCAMPIS grant is competitive, and is awarded to families with the greatest need. To qualify for the grant, the OU student must be an undergraduate, recipient of a Pell grant, and their child or children must be already enrolled in Lowry.
If students are faced with child care expenses, it’s a burden on their student loans or will prevent them from coming to school at all,” said Holly McFaul, director, Lowry Center for Early Childhood Education. “Tuition assistance for child care makes a tremendous impact. We’re showing students at the university that Oakland values them and does everything it can do to help them succeed.”
CCAMPIS is part of the CAMPUS bill, an amendment to the Higher Education Act that authorized $60 million nationally to support campus based child care services. Colleges or universities apply to the Secretary of Education for funding equivalent to one percent of its prior years’ Pell Grant expenditure. Oakland University has received this funding since 2001.
Research shows that student parents with access to campus child care are more likely to remain in school and graduate in fewer years, and maintain higher grade point averages.
At Oakland University, the benefits extend far beyond the tuition. The children have access to a high quality facility – where the teachers must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development and where students learn more than their ABC’s and 123’s. Children learn how to care and be empathetic, how to think logically and how to solve problems.
“Our mission is to touch as many families as possible with a high quality education,” said McFaul.
For more information about The Lowry Center for Early Childhood Education contact McFaul at mcfaul@oakland.edu or visit the Lowry Web site.
A federal grant is helping Kurtis and Shieen Jackson complete their studies at Oakland University while knowing their two-year-old daughter, Kerrington, is receiving the best possible early childhood education. The couple, both finance majors, received a Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grant, providing 50 percent of tuition at The Lowry Center for Early Childhood Education on campus.