University receives grant to support parenting students

St. Joe’s has been awarded $150,000 as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Parent Pathways grant program, an initiative aimed at helping parenting students with education and childcare costs. 

The Parent Pathways grant is part of more than $1.5 million in funding announced March 28 by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to support parenting students, who are college students raising children. The grant will allow institutions like St. Joe’s to provide tuition assistance, childcare and other emergency assistance to parenting students.

Kim Allen-Stuck, Ph.D., assistant vice president of student success and educational support at St. Joe’s, was the driving force in St. Joe’s application process, submitting the university’s application for Parent Pathways in February. Allen-Stuck  said the grant is just another way to show and build support for students with children. 

“Our hope is that we can build community among parenting students, we can help them meet expenses and be able to retain and continue on with their studies and earn the degrees they want,” Allen-Stuck said. “Hopefully, this is transformational for their families.”

The grant is $150,000 in total, including $106,250 toward tuition scholarships, $15,000 toward textbook scholarships, $10,000 in reimbursements for things like child care, transportation and utilities, and $5,000 for emergency expenses.  

“Parent Pathways grants provide critical services to parenting students, reducing a key barrier to accessing postsecondary education, obtaining a credential, or furthering their career,” said Lynette Kuhn, deputy secretary of postsecondary and higher education for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, in an email to The Hawk.

Students can be deemed eligible by their Free Application for Federal Student Aid filing — for example, if they indicate on the FAFSA that they have a dependent. St. Joe’s funds distribution will begin in the fall 2025 semester, with individual students eligible to apply for up to $2,000 in scholarships.

One in five undergraduate students are raising children while pursuing higher education — yet nearly half of these students are unable to complete their degrees, according to a March 28 press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. 

There are 250 parenting students between the Lancaster, Hawk Hill and University City campuses, Allen-Stuck said, with 238 parenting students on the Lancaster campus alone. Parenting students on the Lancaster campus represent over 50% of the Lancaster student population and account for 95.2% of parenting students at St. Joe’s.

Yahaira Medina ’26, a mother and full-time undergraduate nursing student on St. Joe’s Lancaster campus, said grants like these will make a huge difference for fellow parenting students who, like her, usually juggle a job, school and parenting. 

“I would wait until my daughter falls asleep, so from 10 o’clock till three in the morning, I’d be up studying and then have to wake up at six to go to school because I’m an hour away,” Medina said.

Medina said it often feels like she has no time for herself other than those late night hours. She’s “constantly going,” jumping between classes, parent-teacher conferences, her daughter’s dance classes and more. She keeps herself going with the support of her family and friends, and by remembering she’s doing this for her daughter.

“I’m doing it all for her so that we can have a better future. I’ve been on top of my classes. I won’t say that I’ve not gotten C’s here and there, but I’m just continuing and not giving up,” Medina said. “There’s times where I’m like, ‘Why am I doing this? I can’t continue like this, I don’t have time for anything.’ But what everybody keeps saying is, ‘Once you’re done, you’ll be done and you’ll have time for everything.’”

Melissa Snyder, Ed.D., dean of the School of Nursing and Allied Health, played a pivotal role alongside Allen-Stuck by being a voice for the Lancaster parenting student population.

Snyder said the average round-trip commute for Lancaster students is 82 minutes, an extra expense that adds up quickly. 

“To be able to relieve some of the stress that goes along with paying those day-to-day bills can make a significant difference,” Snyder said.

Snyder said that a lot of the parenting students on the Lancaster campus will be essential in the health workforce, which makes this support all the more important. 

“These are students who are very committed, and they just need a little bit of extra help,” Snyder said. “If we can do that, it really benefits society.”