Grant provides relief for students with kids
April 7, 2015
By Cheyene Miller
Winners of the childcare grants provided by the Student Government Association will be announced Wednesday, according to academic and student affairs chair Arayo Sokan.
There were 20 winners out of 36 applicants. The winners will receive a total of $23,100 in scholarship money funded by SGA’s use of student fees.
Sokan called the grant program a “unique opportunity” and said that it was “truly beneficial for those who need it.”
The childcare grants are available for part-time and full-time students at the undergraduate and graduate level, according to the SGA website. They are intended to provide financial assistance for daycare costs to students with children.
At just more than $23,000 in value, the grants make up around 4 percent of the student government budget, which totals around $600,000, according to Ingram.
According to the website, applicants can apply each semester.
The student applying must be enrolled at UK during the semester in which they apply, and the child must be enrolled in a day care or after school program that requires monthly or weekly payment.
A selection committee decided the 20 winners last Wednesday, with the announcement scheduled for a full week later. Winners will receive an email notifying them of their status, Sokan said. The grant is then credited to their student accounts through myUK.
“This is a great way for us to reach out,” said Sokan, who added that student government wanted to emphasize helping students and their families for this initiative.
Sokan noted that the childcare grant initiative was a joint effort between the senatorial and executive branches of SGA, and said that student body president Jake Ingram and vice president Mariel Jackson appropriated more funds this year than in previous years.
That’s the beauty of having more funds to be able to use, Sokan said.
Ingram called the childcare grants “one of the most important things that we do as a student government,” and said they were a “way for us to give some of those student fee dollars right back to students.”
