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Lackawanna College has received a $98,602 Parent Pathways Grant from the state Department of Education Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education. The grant, which the college has received for the second consecutive year, will expand existing resources for parenting students, including tuition assistance, childcare costs, technology support services and emergency funds.
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Emely Mercado, a 30-year-old student at the college, is one of the beneficiaries of the grant. Mercado is pursuing an associate degree in baking and pastry arts while raising her 3-year-old son, Eli. She credits the grant with providing her with financial assistance to attend classes, allowing her to focus on her studies and make the dean’s list.
“This grant is a really good resource for students that truly need it,” Mercado said. “In my situation, the help was there when I needed it the most.
Rebecca Cerra, the college’s manager of student success, said the grant aligns with the college’s mission to provide quality education and support to students. “We want to support our students as much as possible, so the more that we can do it with this grant, the better,” she said.
The grant is particularly important for student parents, who often face unique challenges in pursuing higher education. According to the American Council on Education, student parents make up nearly one in five undergraduate students, but they have lower persistence and degree acquisition rates compared to non-parenting students.
Cerra hopes that the grant will help students like Mercado feel supported and empowered to achieve their goals. “I just hope that by receiving this grant and receiving it for a second year that our students feel well supported and know that they have the ability to go to any of our offices to ask for support and help to get them to our and their main goal of walking across the stage at graduation and receiving their diplomas,” she said.
Mercado, who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic with her family in 2009, said she wants to be a role model for her son. “I want my son to have someone as a role model for him and see that anything that he wants to accomplish, he can,” she said. “Because if I did it, he will be able to.
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