Relaxing in a plush, red recliner in her on-campus apartment, Danielle Steffey looked like any ordinary college student taking a break.
The spot is a pause from a 15-credit semester, work at the Main Library and catering to the needs of her 4-year-old daughter, a girl with dark curly hair and shining brown eyes who sits on her lap and calls Steffey “mommy.”
“It hasn’t been easy,” said Steffey, 26, a merchandising management senior. “It’s very stressful to juggle. You find yourself doing five to 10 things at once.”
Going from class to work, and then coming home to make dinner for her daughter while attempting to study, can be stressful, she said. Even when she’s trying to focus on a conversation, one eye always is on her daughter, Myca.
“There have been a lot of late nights,” Steffey said. “It’s frustrating when you just want to close your eyes and sleep, but you can’t because that’s your study time.”
It’s how she pulls it all together as a student parent, balancing a life in the classroom as well as at home, where she figures out how to make ends meet. It’s a life that may become easier if state lawmakers approve measures that would help students who have children.
Steffey has turned down job offers because of her responsibilities as a parent.
“It’s hard because I can’t work nights and weekends with a child,” she said.
Steffey came to MSU as a freshman in 1993. After her first year, she took time off. During that time, she became pregnant with Myca. She came back to school in 1999, when her daughter was almost 3 years old.
She knew it would be difficult, but she wanted to achieve her dream of a college education.
“My parents have been the biggest help,” she said, “and even though I complain about them, the (Family Independence Agency) has helped a lot with health care and food stamps.”
Steffey pays $26 for an entire day at Eastminster Child Development Center, regardless of how long Myca is there. The state, however, only pays for the hours her daughter spends at the center.
“I still pay about $200 a month for child care,” she said. “That’s above and beyond what the state pays. It’s hard to ask for assistance because I’m treated like I don’t want to work.”
After Steffey received support for a year, she learned the state would no longer help pay child care during the hours while she attends the university.
Child support from Myca’s father goes directly to the independence agency. Steffey only can work a limited number of hours in an on-campus, work-study program, so Steffey was forced to take out loans. Even then, she only was allowed the same amount as a traditional student.
“I was told to find a cheaper day care,” she said. “But they’re all about the same price, and she loves where she is. It’s hard because the state can make your decisions for you.”
A proposal recently introduced by Rep. Chris Kolb, D-Ann Arbor, aims to make child care affordable for student parents who are trying to educate themselves by going to college. His proposal would provide state funding for college child care facilities and give universities $500 per semester for each child of a full-time student.
“I believe that students and employees both could be more productive if they know that they have adequate day care,” Kolb said. “If the care is on campus, they can check in on their children instead of carting them across town.”
Lori Strom, coordinator of the Child and Family Care Resources program at MSU, said the university already is trying to provide what the bill proposes.
“The biggest need for students is to help pay for child care,” she said. “The majority of students with children are single mothers struggling to pay for care. People don’t realize that child care for a baby is more than a college education.”
Strom estimated that child care for an infant runs around $10,000 a year.
“There’s a long list of students waiting for care,” she said. “We have 200 students enrolled in the program and 10 child care providers that we refer them to, and I get calls all the time from struggling parents.”
The Spartan Child Development Center is the only on-campus day care facility at the university. Students with one child must pay anywhere from $14.38 for a half-day without lunch to $38.75 for a day of care for an infant.
“You want to make sure the children are in quality care,” Strom said. “We focus on affordability and accessibility and quality.”
Another bill being considered by state lawmakers would set up a fund to allow colleges and universities to establish offices to assist pregnant and parenting students. The proposal would designate $200,000 to create a pilot “Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Project.”
“It’s wonderful that they’re considering these issues,” Strom said. “It’s a reflection of what’s going on nationally. The biggest difficulty is when you look at the high cost of care and who will incur that expense - the state certainly can’t afford it.
“It would cost me over a million dollars to subsidize all the people who apply.”
Strom is the adviser for Student Parents On a Mission, an on-campus group designed to help student parents support each other and relate as adults.
“The students are very stressed,” Strom said. “I know student parents who graduate with $40,000 in loans and need to provide for their family.”
Despite the hardship, Steffey doesn’t regret bringing Myca to school with her.
“She’s a joy, and I’m glad I have her,” Steffey said. “I knew that coming to school with a child was my decision, and I don’t want any special attention. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it in the end.”
Lindsay Frederickson can be reached at freder69@msu.edu.
