Nearly 70 families have received child care tuition grants through the program, which began Sept. 1. Eligibility for the program reflects the Housing and Urban Development guidelines for Washtenaw County, which look at family income and size. Grant amounts have ranged from 20 percent to 40 percent of tuition. According to Karey Leach, director of the U-M Children's Centers and the tuition child care grant program coordinator, the tuition grant has helped families, children and teachers at the Centers.
Families are delighted.
Priti Mithas and her husband Sunil, a graduate student in the School of Business Administration, received a tuition grant last semester for their child's care at the Child Development Center. The grant has cut their child care costs by almost one-half. Lingjie Xu's husband also is a Ph.D. student at the University. The financial support he receives through his graduate program is not enough to meet the cost of child care for the couple's daughter. The tuition grant has eased some of the financial burden of child care.