Graduates Cite the Support of the University’s 17 Child Care Centers as Integral to Their Success
The City University of New York today congratulated the approximately 5,000 graduating students among the CUNY Class of 2025 who raised children while pursuing a degree. These parents found additional ways to be involved in campus life while both supporting their families and focusing on their studies: the University’s student-parent graduates include athletes, club presidents and advocates.
“Our student-parents demonstrate remarkable determination as they balance earning a college degree with the responsibilities of raising children,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “We celebrate the student-parents graduating this commencement season and encourage any parent who is considering pursuing a higher education to join the CUNY family.”
While 18% of undergraduate students nationwide are parents, the percentage of student-parents is higher at many CUNY colleges: 41% of students at the CUNY School of Professional Studies and 37% at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies are parents. Only 18% of student-parents earn an undergraduate degree within six years compared to 54% of traditional students without children, despite student-parents earning either similar or better grades than their fellow students. This highlights the critical need for additional support to ensure that student-parents are able to earn a degree.
To help student parents, CUNY operates 17 child care centers across all five boroughs of New York City, which collectively are open year-round and serve children aged 3 months through 12 years old. More than half of the University’s child care centers are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a distinction earned by 1 in 10 childcare programs nationwide. CUNY also offers the CUNY Fatherhood Academy, a free program that supports young fathers as they prepare for and enroll in college.
Student-parents in the CUNY Class of 2025 include:
- Brodie Enoch will graduate from the CUNY School of Law on May 22. An advocate for the blind and father of four, Brodie credits his family for motivating him to further his education. His two youngest children, ages 7 and 27, will join him on stage at commencement. “They give me the extra drive to push me across this finish line,” said the 66-year-old who is legally blind. “Raising children is challenging. But working to better to world for them is easy.” Enoch is a lifelong Harlem resident who serves as founder and executive director of Harlem Alliance of Advocates for the Blind, a group that advocates for pedestrian safety and economic access for visually impaired New Yorkers. He plans to work in human rights law after graduation. Enoch earned his bachelor’s degree from The City College of New York and a master’s degree from Fordham University.
- Chyna Bryant is a player on the nationally ranked Women’s Basketball Team at Hostos Community College who will graduate from the college on May 28. Bryant’s daughter, Aviana, has become a veritable mascot of the team, attending practices and showing some nascent ball-handling skills herself. Bryant says that her experience was “one of a kind.” She adds, “The fact that my daughter could go to the daycare center was amazing. I love the daycare center. My daughter was able to come to school with me, I could drop her off early, go to classes, go to practice and do extracurriculars and then still go pick her up at 5 p.m. Just the convenience of her being in the building, CUNY did that for us. I give all the credit to Hostos and CUNY. I tell my other friends in college who are parents and it’s like a fairytale to them, but it’s real life for me. I don’t think I would have been able to get through the last two years without these resources.”
- Maryam Khan is a nursing major with five children who will graduate from York College, where her eldest daughter has recently begun her studies, on May 28. Khan served as president of the nursing club and played on York’s women’s tennis team. “I came to York because I wanted an all-inclusive environment where I could have the full college experience while still having time for my family,” she said. “I love that I am now able to graduate with my daughter not too far behind, our family is one big team.” Khan is also an active volunteer: She mentored other York students in between her student nursing clinicals at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens.
- Clara Capellan is an education major and mother of two who came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic in 2013 and started her journey by learning English through theCUNY Language Immersion Program. She will graduate from Lehman College on May 29. After graduating from Bronx Community College, her pregnancy caused her to take a break from continuing on, but her drive led her to Lehman. “I wanted to go back to college to do something for my kid.”
- Andrea Cantariniisan aspiring nurse and mom who will earn an associate degree from Bronx Community College on May 30. Her daughter goes to the campus early childhood center. She credits CUNY with being “dedicated to my child but also to me as a student. Knowing that my child is in a safe, nurturing and engaging environment has given me the peace of mind I need to focus on my studies.”
- Anyinett Fernandez, who says her motivation to finish school was her two-year-old son, will earn a degree from Bronx Community College on May 30. Her adviser from CUNY CARES, which connects students to support services, informed her that BCC had a child care center on campus that would make it easier for her to take classes in person.“If I did not find the BCC Early Childhood Center, I would have only taken classes online.”
- Oliver Scarlett is a single father who will receive his master’s degree from Hunter College on May 30. An Evelyn Lauder Nurse Practitioner Fellow, he also holds a bachelor’s degree from Hunter and works as a registered nurse in Queens. Driven by his experience with health inequity growing up in Jamaica, he is committed to advancing health equity for all.
– Story courtesy of CUNY Communications
