College Access and Opportunity act of 2005

Floor Speech

COLLEGE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - March 29, 2006)

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Ms. HART. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of the amendment and ask that my colleagues support it as well, because this amendment would encourage institutions of higher education to establish and operate pregnant and parenting student services offices for pregnant students, parenting students, prospective parenting students who are anticipating a birth or adoption, and also students who are placing or who have placed their children up for adoption.

The student servicing center will help students with locating and utilizing child care, family housing, flexible academic scheduling such as telecommuting programs, parenting classes, and programs in postpartum counseling and support groups.

This language will be added as an additional authority under the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, the FIPSE, which was established to improve post-secondary education activities.

Madam Chair, 27 percent of all undergraduates are parents; 34 percent of all graduate students are parents; one-half of undergraduate students are single parents; and about a third of graduate students are single parents. This means that approximately 4.5 million undergraduate and graduate students are parents.

Forty-five percent of the women who have abortions are college-age women. Many, unfortunately, have them because they fear that they cannot complete their study. They fear they cannot support the child, and there are no resources to help them continue their education while having their child. They also lack the financial resources to afford child care. The amendment is an important step in providing much-needed services for these students so they will bear their children and also finish their education.

Right now there is a lack of campus necessary resources for pregnant and parenting students. This amendment will be an important first step in providing these students with these much-needed services, including family housing; affordable on-campus child care; babysitters; co-ops; telecommuting options; on-campus parking; maternity coverage in the student health plans; desks accessible to pregnant women; diaper decks in men's and women's restrooms; clean, comfortable places for women to breast feed in private if they choose to do so; and also financial aid, especially for women living independently from their parents.

This amendment is especially important because families are profoundly impacted by the education attainment level of the parents. No other single indicator has the same ability to predict social, economic and educational outcomes for the children and the families as the parental education. Education improves the quality of life for these families, providing increased financial security and socioeconomic mobility, as well as directly impacting the K-12 performance and post-secondary education attainment rates of their children.

If we want to move Americans forward, this is something we need to support. Higher education increases the workplace competitiveness of these parents in the increasingly complex job market that they face today and ensures a better educated and diverse workforce.

It also shows that we value our families and we also value meaningful workplace and school place policies. We believe that by empowering parents to go to college, we can directly impact the children and effect social change in families and the larger community in a positive way.

Student parents face enormous challenges in balancing the demands of school with family responsibilities. As a result, these parents suffer high dropout rates, particularly during the first year. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education studies indicate that when student parents are able to persevere through the first critical year of school, their chances of completion are similar to other student groups. These parents need specialized resources to help them succeed.

The programs that I have outlined are included in this amendment. For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to support this amendment.

Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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