Some universities recognize the financial struggle for student parents and have worked to subsidize child care costs. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Office of Child Care and Family Resources supports about 600 student parents. Besides seven day care centers on campus, the office sponsors a program called Chicken Soup, which provides care for sick children if a parent has to attend a lecture or take an exam.
“At most campuses, you move away from your support network if you did have one,” says Lynn Edlefson, director of the Office of Child Care and Family Resources. “We have to be the support network for lots of families from all over the world.”