Latest news with #communitycollege
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Summer camp scramble: US families need it, but it can cost as much as a month's rent
Summer camp had already begun for Tasmiha Khan's two sons when a work contract unexpectedly ended. Money was suddenly tight for the freelance communications strategist – and the $1,300 price for the school district's months-long summer camp became unaffordable. Khan had no choice but to pull her children out early. To give them an enriching summer, Khan tried a few alternatives. An Arabic immersion program still had spots open, but Khan wasn't impressed. She occasionally takes them to swim lessons at a local community college for just $38 per child per week. But she has to be present for those twice-weekly, 35-minute sessions – which doesn't give her much-needed time to work. 'Honestly, America's not sustainable for parents,' Khan said. 'I'm leaning on grandma to help out because I'm very much burnt out.' When school's out for summer, working parents of K-12 children face an annual high-stakes and often high-cost scramble to cobble together activities. The result is 'a really undercovered and also underfunded aspect of our safety net', according to journalist Katherine Goldstein, mother of three and the creator of The Double Shift newsletter on parenting. Fifty-five percent of all K-12 children, an estimated 30 million, participated in at least one form of summer enrichment program in 2024, according to that year's National Summer Learning Association-American Camp Association summer experiences survey. But only 38% of children in lower-income families ($50,000 or less annually) did so, compared to 67% of children in upper-income households ($100,000 or more). The solution for many families is to keep children at home and rely on friends and family to provide care. But camp can provide vital opportunities for socialization, learning and healthy food. Over six out of 10 lower income parents surveyed in 2024 wanted their children to have a camp experience. Yet, a third of US parents said that camp was financially out of reach. 'The kids who would most benefit from programming during the summer and having a safe place to be are not the ones who are going to summer camp,' Goldstein said. The US summer camp dates to approximately 150 years ago when wealthy families sent their children away from polluted cities to experience fresh air and outdoor activities, according to American Camp Association interim president and CEO, Henry DeHart. In the last 20 years, 'the biggest change is the rise in the interest in day camp', he said. Local day camps and weekly enrichment courses combined to make up 42% of the programs cited in the 2024 survey, compared to only 11% for overnight camp. Information about the cost of summer activities is hard to come by; it can vary widely according to the type of camp and location. However, the American Camp Association estimates that day camps cost between $73-87 per day per child, with overnight camps ranging from $150-173. Goldstein, a resident of Durham, North Carolina, calculated what nine weeks of camp would cost for her three children this year. It came to $10,000. Even for her upper middle-class family, a season of camp requires careful budgeting to afford. DeHart said that 93% of camps offer financial assistance. One such camp is Urban Roots in downtown Reno, Nevada, which runs eight- and nine-week programs for children aged five to 14 at its teaching farm and kitchen. Thirty percent of all slots go to scholarship students, offered on a sliding scale, said Jenny Angius, executive director of development and operations. The cost this year is $295 per child per week, or $2,655 for all nine weeks. The average rent in Reno is $1,950 per month. The scholarships can cover more than just tuition, such as camp supplies or even transportation support. All children receive free breakfast and lunch. This summer, Urban Roots also implemented payment plans through the end of the year 'so it doesn't feel like it's such a big hit for families, especially if they're coming multiple weeks or if they're sending multiple children', Angius said. Cost is not the only barrier, however. Many day camps do not run as long as the traditional workday. As a primarily outdoor camp, Urban Roots begins at 7.30am but ends at 2.30pm, in part to avoid the worst of the summer heat. This summer is the first in its 15 years of operation that it has received funding to provide extended care inside – but only until 4pm. Camps also rarely run all summer, requiring 'a huge amount of mental load and logistics', in Goldstein's words, to put together a summer's worth of programming. It starts with registration. Goldstein knows of public programs in Durham that fill up within two minutes of registration opening. Last year, Khan, the Chicago-area mother, and a friend texted each other reminders to set alarms for 10am on the day camp registration opened to claim spots. Since 2022, Emily Popek has created a public spreadsheet listing all area programs in and around New York's Otsego county, where she lives with her husband and daughter. This year, it categorizes 67 programs by number of weeks, age group and registration date. While that sounds like a wealth of options, only four of those programs run longer than a week. 'Every summer has just been this patchwork of care,' Popek said. And the Oneonta Boys and Girls Club program used to be free but started charging $100 per child per week this year. 'Daycare was a second mortgage for us,' Popek said. 'The cost of summer programs is basically comparable to that.' Popek's research inspired her to write an open letter to local officials in 2024 asking why no municipal or school district programs existed. She also surveyed more than 40 local parents about their summer camp struggles. By her count, 87% listed scheduling as a barrier – the same number who listed cost. A comparable number, 82%, reported taking off work to cover summer childcare. Forty-one percent of parents brought their children to work. 'The narrative from our community leaders is that their top priority is to make this a great place to raise a family,' Popek said. '[That] doesn't just mean that we have a splash pad and some pretty banners hanging on Main Street … It means we have to invest in the infrastructure that actually supports families.' Melissa Petro, whose seven-year-old son Oscar has generalized anxiety disorder and pathological demand avoidance, said: 'Camps won't even enroll kids like mine.' Her son needs a one-on-one aide. 'He's going to create havoc if he doesn't have supervision,' she said. But camps won't pay for or provide that service, and Petro estimates it would require at minimum $5,000. So Petro and her husband become camp counselors for the six weeks his outdoor therapeutic school is closed. Because Oscar thrives outside, they usually visit the school campus. They take long hikes. He swims in the manmade pond and climbs trees. He makes art. But he misses out on the peer socialization he needs. For those six weeks, Petro and her husband are essentially out of work. Last year, Petro had a book release in September but spent August with Oscar rather than working on promotion. 'Your whole life ends up revolving around accommodating your child,' she said. Anecdotal data suggests that parents are feeling the economic pinch even more this year. 'Day camps have started to fill a little bit more slowly,' DeHart said, noting that this is the first drop in enrollment rate since the pandemic. Many parents are turning their shared struggles into communal support. Khan recently invited an old friend and her two-year-old daughter over for dinner and a trip to a nearby park. Her sons loved playing with the toddler, and Khan's friend got some relief from parenting burnout. Popek has found carpool partners while talking to other parents. 'Being in community with other families has been the most uplifting thing for me,' she said. Goldstein is trying something new this summer. With the $10,000 she would have spent for camp, plus the $4,000 cost of a week at a state beach, she has created her own program. For the first half of the summer, a trusted babysitter is watching the children at home. Then, the family will spend five weeks in Costa Rica, including a month-long camp for the same price as a week-long program at home. 'I don't see my solution as a systemic [one],' Goldstein stressed, noting that both she and her husband work at home under flexible conditions. 'It's more of an experiment within the confines of a broken system,' she said. As Popek said: 'No one's coming to save us. We have to do it ourselves.'
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State auditor releases full report on Mesalands Community College
Jul. 14—A state auditor's report into Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari dating back several years found the school's spending at one point put it in danger of shutting down. The report found the college submitted inaccurate fiscal reports and increased salaries for certain high-level staff members, among other examples of financial mismanagement. It also scrutinized the school's contracting process on at least two occasions and that the president had hired family members. The New Mexico Office of the State Auditor intervened in 2023 and plans to assist the college until 2028. The auditor predicts that by next year, the college could be financially stable. However, the auditor's office said the situation at Mesalands could have been caught earlier and pointed the finger at the state's Higher Education Department (NMHED) for not recognizing the issues at the school sooner. "While inaccurate reporting was provided to NMHED over many years, NMHED did not take action or begin to request the necessary corrective measures from the college until November 2022," State Auditor Joseph Maestas said in an interview last week. "This delay in oversight allowed the college to continue operating without the required financial transparency and independent oversight for a significant period." In a letter obtained by the Journal sent to NMHED Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez, Maestas said the "audit determined that the statutory authority of NMHED was significantly undermined" and also that he "strongly urge(s) the implementation of robust review and verification protocols to independently confirm the accuracy of financial reports submitted by higher education institutions across the state." "Who's to blame here? I think it's a draw, and that's the way that this is posed, but our letter to NMHED is we're telling them, 'Hey, this happened on your watch, and you guys really need to double-check the breath and the substance of your oversight of higher education institutions across the state,'" Maestas said. He also thinks it's possible the agency dropped the ball in Silver City, failing to provide adequate oversight to Western New Mexico University, where its former president, Joseph Shepard, was hit with an investigation in 2024 by the auditor's office — and a subsequent lawsuit from the state's ethics commission — for "lavish" spending. NMHED acknowledged the letter Monday and said that it "provided governance and financial oversight for the college to address the concerns." "The New Mexico Higher Education Department fully supports the concerns outlined in the audit and in the letter from the Office of the State Auditor, as we have been collaborating on this effort for some time now," NMHED spokesperson Auriella Ortiz said in a statement. The repot found that the college awarded a contract to a company owned by someone employed by the school, and another contract was awarded to a company owned by the spouse of someone who was a high level employee of the college's, both raising concerns about conflict of interest. Additionally, the report said that then-President Gregg Busch hired his wife and son to positions at the university — raising the question of nepotism — and that he also took multiple trips of "questionable value" to the college. The report also states that at one point, the school's financial health reached the point of "insolvency," and conversations took place about Eastern New Mexico University taking over the community college, which Eastern New Mexico confirmed on Monday. The state auditor said that the sale likely would have happened and would've "sent a chill" in the community had his office and NMHED not gotten involved. "Mesalands offers a very unique kind of careers, I think nursing and renewable energy, they have that niche," Maestas said. "I think that would be thrown into this period of great uncertainty, and it could have had negative economic consequences on the city." The college, which serves just under 1,000 students in the city of roughly 5,000, increased its reserve fund to around $2.1 million by the end of 2024 fiscal year, a sizable improvement, according to David Peña, director of policy for the auditor's office. The college's leadership also feels it's turning a corner. "I feel like we're in a really great position right now where we can actually start expanding the programs that we can offer our community," Mesalands President Allen Moss said in a phone interview on Monday. Moss joined the college in 2022, leaving his job as superintendent of a rural southern Missouri school district to become the director of Mesalands' small business development center and was eventually promoted to interim, then full-time president of the school. While he said he was not surprised by the auditors' report findings and appreciates the office's assistance to the college, he takes issue with the report's tone. "It's difficult not to take those things personally because even though a lot of my staff and I weren't a part of that, you're still talking about the college," Moss said.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Woman Clashes with Sister-in-Law After She Demands to be Called ‘Doctor' at Family Events
A woman's sister-in-law, who recently earned a PhD, shocked her family by demanding to be called 'Doctor' at a reunion Tensions rose after the sister-in-law said 'aunt' was too childish and refused to accept informal names from loved ones The sister-in-law stormed out of the event, vowing to skip future gatheringsA woman seeks advice from the Reddit community after a tense family gathering left her questioning whether she crossed a line with her sister-in-law. In her post, she explains that her sister-in-law, who recently earned a PhD, now insists on being addressed as 'Doctor," even by close family members. 'So, I have a SIL that after her kids had grown she went back to school, then got her Master's then PHD in literature,' the woman writes. She notes that everyone in the family was "proud" of the 53-year-old's academic accomplishments. According to the poster, the sister-in-law now works part-time at the library and also teaches as an online professor at the community college. But things took an awkward turn at a recent family reunion, the first in years, when the woman's children and nephews went to greet their aunt warmly. 'Our entire family has called her 'Beth' for 36 yrs,' she explains. "Of course our kids called her aunt or auntie Beth. Even after her Master's degree. So our kids and a couple of my nephews went to give her a hug and said 'Hi Aunt Beth you look great.' " That's when she stunned everyone by correcting them on the spot. 'She told them, 'Don't you know it is rude to call someone with a PhD by their first name or 'aunt.'" She then instructed everyone to call her "Doctor," followed by her first and last name — specifically her maiden name. One of the nephews immediately spoke up, telling her, 'You are our aunt, not our doctor.' However, she didn't back down and instead pulled her brothers aside to demand they teach their kids what she believes is proper respect. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'She pulled my brothers and I aside and said to teach our kids some respect because Aunt is childish,' the woman writes. The sister-in-law insisted that 'regardless of relation, someone with a doctorate should be addressed as doctor and her legal name she was born with.' Trying to keep the peace, the woman pointed out that they were in a casual setting. 'I told her that it was fine in a public place or if they see her at the library,' she shares, but adds that most of the family has only ever known her as "Beth" and didn't realize she had started using her maiden name again. The poster notes that her brother and sister-in-law are not separated, though she seemingly started hyphenating her last name after years of using their "family name." Things escalated when the sister-in-law announced that they were abruptly leaving. 'She ended up telling her husband, my brother 'Tim,' it was time to go and that they were not going to any more family functions because his family cannot use professional etiquette,' the woman writes. Tim stayed behind to say his goodbyes, "and apologized and said she has been this way since she started teaching. He even said she won't let him call her Beth." Looking back, the woman questions if she and the rest of the family were wrong for sticking with the name they've always used. 'Were we wrong? If knew it before we would have reminded everyone,' she says. In an edit to her post, she thanked the Reddit community for their input and said she's considering some of the advice given. 'I may actually give some of the ideas to my brother Tim,' she adds, showing she's still open to mending things. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Raritan Valley Community College receives largest scholarship commitment in its history
Frank and Pat Russo have been creating opportunities to help students succeed at Raritan Valley Community College for several years. First, they endowed the Frank S. and Patricia F. Russo Scholarship in 2019 and then transformed the annual RVCC Giving Day with a "Match Challenge" for two consecutive years at $50,000 each. Now, their generosity has taken another step. Recently the couple decided to extend their scholarship well into the future with a $375,000 donation allowing for five full scholarships to RVCC in each of the next 10 years. It is the largest scholarship commitment in RVCC's history. "The role and intrinsic value of community colleges is undeniable," said Frank Russo. "Our support of several recent students of Raritan Valley Community College provides objective evidence of that. We hope our commitment to RVCC is a model for others to follow." Lucas Winkler was a recipient this past year of the Frank S. and Patricia F. Scholarship at RVCC. This fall he will be transferring to the University of Buffalo to pursue a bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science, a field in which he ultimately plans to pursue a doctorate "I could not be more grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Russo − their generosity has been a difference maker for me," Winkler said. More: More than 1,200 graduate from Raritan Valley Community College Both Frank and Pat Russo enjoyed storied careers in the telecommunications industry, at AT&T, and then, for Pat Russo, as CEO at Lucent Technologies. Difference makers in the corporate world, they have carried that forward into a range of philanthropic interests. One beneficiary of their generosity is Raritan Valley Community College. When the Russos established the Frank S. and Patricia F. Russo Scholarship in 2019, it was the most generous scholarship offered at RVCC. The scholarship has been awarded to five students each year since its inception. "I know what it means to struggle or lose focus or maybe not even have the motivation to excel at all. That describes the early part of my life's journey," Frank Russo said. "But I eventually learned the importance of perseverance and determination. And with help along the way, including attending a community college in upstate New York, I overcame these obstacles. There are few things as gratifying as now having the ability to 'pay that forward' at RVCC." "New Jersey was an important part of our lives and livelihoods; we raised our family there and made our career marks there," said Pat Russo, herself a graduate of Georgetown. "And while we don't reside in the state any longer, we haven't forgotten our roots and greatly value the role of education in helping people succeed in life and advance their economic interests. The role of community colleges in that quest could not be more unique and valuable. We recognize that and are more than happy to support Raritan Valley Community College." email: cmakin@ Cheryl Makin is an award-winning feature, news and education reporter for part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@ or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. This article originally appeared on Raritan Valley Community College receives largest scholarship gift
Associated Press
24-06-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
These LA community college students are getting paid to go to school
In November last year, Los Angeles City College student Brenda Olazava got an email notifying her that she had been selected to participate in a guaranteed income pilot program. She would receive 12 monthly stipends of $1,000 to spend however she wanted. 'We'll see if this is true or not,' she thought. The pilot program for the Los Angeles Community College District, Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive, or BOOST, provides monthly payments for one year to eligible community college students majoring in a health care field. Olazava's skepticism disappeared when she received her first monthly stipend in time for Thanksgiving 2024. Throughout California, dozens of guaranteed income programs provide participants with monthly stipends. But only a few reach college students. Even fewer reach community college students. In Santa Clara, a pilot program provides a $1,200 monthly stipend for two years to unhoused students between the ages of 16 and 20. In another pilot program, some former foster youth, formerly incarcerated people and CalWorks recipients at 10 California community colleges started receiving monthly guaranteed income in March 2024 through Hire UP. BOOST is unique because it specifically targets health care students as part of an effort to address California's chronic nursing shortage. California community colleges offer academic pathways to jobs in health care, but many of the nursing programs in the Los Angeles Community College District have some of the highest attrition rates in the state. The program also provides students stipends during the critical period after they complete their degrees and transition into employment. Guaranteed income helps student focus on psychology program Though Olazava was skeptical when she heard about the program, she figured, 'Why not apply?' The money has made a difference. Olazava now pays her bills on time, takes her kids out to eat and buys her son the clothes and shoes he needs. She has more time to study, has As in her courses and is on the honor roll. Olazava found her passion taking care of elderly adults during the pandemic. She was fascinated by how the body and mind function following accidents or as individuals age. But after a work injury in 2021 sidelined her, she realized she needed to find a new career. Her therapist suggested going back to school. Olazava signed up for a psychology class at Los Angeles City College, even though the semester had already started. She loved the class and decided to keep going. She signed up for a full course load and took classes in sociology, psychology and humanities. A decade earlier, Olazava had earned her associate degree in criminal justice as a single parent to an infant and a toddler. Now she returned to school full time as a single parent to two teenagers. She worked on campus as a student employee and drove for Uber Eats or Lyft at night. She was managing, but it was a struggle. 'Just being a single mom, it's just overwhelming financial needs all the time,' she said. Since her first payment in November, Olazava has saved some money for when she transfers to Cal State Los Angeles in the fall. The extra $1,000 a month gives her more time to study and be with her kids. She has less financial stress and can splurge on ice cream for her kids or a late-night snack. She graduated on June 10 with four associate degrees in psychology, sociology, social and behavioral science and liberal arts. She will transfer to Cal State Los Angeles to study psychology and plans to pursue a master's degree in social work. When Olazava started college for a second time at age 37, her kids were skeptical that she'd persevere. 'But I always told my kids, it doesn't matter how old you are, as long as you want to do something, go ahead and do it,' she said. Guaranteed income recipients plan to enter health fields The pilot includes 251 students at East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles City College, and Los Angeles Trade-Tech College in the Los Angeles Community College District, which serves about 250,000 students. About half the students in the community college district report incomes at or below poverty level, according to Kelly King, chief advancement officer for the Los Angeles Community College District and executive director of the district's foundation, which manages the BOOST program. The monthly stipend is not tied to enrolled units or grades and students choose how they spend the money, whether on diapers, groceries, car repairs or to pay down debt. While few guaranteed income programs target community college students, the need is there. More than two-thirds of nearly 67,000 California community college students surveyed struggle to meet their basic needs, according to the 2023 RealCollege Survey. BOOST's program is studying two groups: the 251 health care and psychology students who receive the monthly income, and a control group of 370 who don't receive the stipend. The monthly amount is not intended to fully cover the high living costs in L.A. County, but to help participants ease financial stressors. Participants in other community guaranteed income studies who received a $1,000 monthly stipend reported lower stress levels, fewer skipped meals, and the ability to plan ahead, lower their debt, or upgrade their housing, King said. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania cite one other guaranteed income pilot program for community college students in Santa Fe. They found that giving students $400 a month for one year led to positive outcomes. At the end of the pilot program, more recipients were employed, felt they could weather a $400 emergency, spent more time with their children, and were able to save more. Most of the participants said the money went to running the household and buying food, according to the report. Higher education researchers and policy makers often assess the value of guaranteed income in terms of progress toward economic mobility. But the Santa Fe study revealed more intangible benefits. Participants described pursuing higher education for reasons distinct from job training, said Amy Castro, lead researcher on the BOOST study. 'These students were saying, 'I am pursuing higher education to be somebody who has a degree, and I want to learn because it has value for me and dignity to me, and it's the way that I want to honor my family,'' she said. Decoupling the guaranteed basic income from academic requirements allows researchers to continue to observe effects of guaranteed income on community college students through periods when they may not be enrolled due to life events, scheduling challenges or academic recesses. '(This) provides a really fascinating window into the actual lives and progression of our students,' King said. The BOOST pilot provides researchers a first-of-its-kind, randomized, controlled trial in higher education at this scale, said King. Because the participants share a common goal – employment in a health field – researchers can study the impact of guaranteed income on progress toward a specific outcome. Costs of attendance for community college students can exceed costs for the University of California or California State University, especially in high cost of living regions like L.A. County, King said. California community college students receive less state aid than UC and Cal State students. And across the state, the costs of college have risen exponentially over the last three decades. Private donors provided the nearly $4 million needed to run the pilot program. The Broad Foundation gave nearly $3.2 million and the L.A. Community College Foundation contributed nearly $870,000 from its Young Adults Forward Fund. Initial BOOST success guides disaster relief grants in LA Informed by the research on and success of guaranteed income pilot programs, the Los Angeles Community College Foundation will offer ongoing financial payments to a small group of students who lost housing for a long period of time or experienced significant hardship due to the January 2025 wildfires. The hope is to help students recover from the losses incurred by the wildfires and to continue on their educational path. The grants provide $1,000 a month for 12 months to 24 eligible students. The foundation raised more than $3 million in private donations for disaster relief, which will fund the monthly payments to Los Angeles students as well as go to disaster relief programs at Glendale and Pasadena community colleges, according to King. The BOOST pilot program brings together strategies to help students stay on track with their studies and a year of guaranteed monthly income. King said the foundation applied this formula to long-term disaster funding, to ask how disaster response grants could accomplish two types of goals: supporting students in their education through the disaster and making sure their future educational or career training goals weren't disrupted. Next, King plans to create a guide for other colleges to start similar programs. She also aims to secure funds for future pilot guaranteed income programs for health care students, as well as for students raising children while attending community college. ___ This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
