Institutional leaders from across the state gathered at Columbus State University last week to discuss ways to improve access to child care for Georgia’s postsecondary students.

The symposium, hosted by CSU’s Academic Center for Excellence and the Office of the Provost, was funded by a $6,000 University System of Georgia Complete College Georgia Collaboration Capacity Grant. Complete College Georgia is an initiative of the USG and Technical College System of Georgia to bolster the state’s workforce by 250,000 qualified graduates by 2020.

According to an assessment sponsored by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, limited access to affordable child care for students with young children has contributed to lower rates of college completion. Only one third of student-parents earn a degree within six years of enrollment.

“High quality, affordable child care is a real concern and retention factor for students, faculty and staff,” said Dustin Worsley, CSU’s adult re-entry coordinator and assistant director of ACE.

“Having this opportunity to participate in an idea exchange with sister institutions from around the state on this important topic is a great start to addressing this concern on our campus,” he said.