On an average day, junior Nicole Kelbley balances being a mother to her 3-year-old son, being a full time student and working at McDonald’s.

Kelbley, 22, is a construction management major at BGSU and has a son named Colten. One of her daily struggles is not being able to be with Colten like a “normal mom.”

“That time that I’m missing out with him is really hard,” she said.

Kelbley became teary eyed and emotional while talking about the daily struggles of being a mother and an undergraduate student at Bowling Green State University.

“It’s definitely hard, especially talking about it sometimes,” Kelbley said.

Kelbley is one of an estimated 25 percent of all students on a college or university campus who have children, according to an article by Kevin Miller, author of a study titled “Child Care: A Critical Campus Resource for Students with Children.”

“Student parents are more prevalent than many in higher education may assume,” according to the study.

Though research shows that 25 percent of all students on a college or university campus have children, there is no way of knowing for sure how many attend BGSU, said Ellen Lassiter Collier, a doctoral student in Higher Education and Student Affairs who is studying students with children.

Collier started to work with the Women’s Center to develop programming and services for students with children, and the first step is a survey that will be released this semester and open all summer, Collier said. The survey will hopefully help Collier and the Women’s Center get a sense of how many students with children are at BGSU and what their needs are.

The Women’s Center staff started thinking about services for students with children a few years ago when its Director, Mary Krueger, was approached by a student who was open about her own experience.

Sarah Jefferson was the student who made Krueger realize she didn’t have much information about students with children. Jefferson has a son named Jonah, and they were the inspiration for Jonah’s room, the breast feeding and lactation room on campus.

Jefferson, who now works in the office of student conduct at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, did an independent study about students with children with Krueger during her time at BGSU. Jefferson dropped out of school for two years after becoming pregnant with her son, and then went back for a year and to go to graduate school.

“It was tough, it was really hard. I went back to school because I felt like I was a drop out,” she said. “When I came in my time revolved around myself, when I came back, my time revolved around my son.”

Jonah’s room isn’t the only service the Women’s Center plans to offer, it is working on a website for students with children, Krueger said.

When Jefferson got back to Bowling Green after being gone for two years, she left her family and support system.

“I got up there and I had to research everything on my own,” she said. “There was no office that could direct me where to go. I had to connect with people, network and figure out how I was going to get through that process.”

Jefferson’s main support came from Krueger and her academic adviser, she said.

“Find resources and people you can trust and rely on,” Jefferson said. “That support was really important to me just getting through my classes.”

The Women’s Center staff is working to create a support system for students with children.

“What we’re trying to do is create a network of students we already know of,” Collier said. “We want to make sure they’re having a good time on campus and that they feel like they’re a part of it.”

Kelbley attended Owens Community College before coming to BGSU, and said she feels like it was an easier way to begin college.

“School is a way for me to experience that college stage in my life,” Kelbley said. “I feel like I’m normal for once.”

Kelbley doesn’t use the Women’s Center, as she is not familiar with the services it offers. However, she said something she struggles with is finding someone to watch Colten while she’s at school.

“Daycare is a big chunk of our expenses every month,” she said.

The website the Women’s Center staff is working on will offer links to resources for students with children, such as childcare options, housing services, government services and prenatal care.

“It will be organized all in one place,” Krueger said.

The website will go live soon and will be linked not only through the Women’s Center website, but also hopefully through other offices on campus’ sites, Krueger said.

Though the Women’s Center staff was first inspired three years ago, Collier said she thinks research and programming for students with children is important because the population is growing.

“Parenting students have always gone to college, but in general, the demographic of people going to college is changing.”

The Women’s Center has adopted helping students with children as its charge.

“We certainly aren’t the answer to this,” Krueger said. “I see the Women’s Center’s responsibility as putting the question together, gathering feedback and information, organizing that into a format and then taking it to the administration.”

Information about students with children has not reached Student Affairs, said Jill Carr, dean of students and senior associate vice president of Student Affairs.

Students with children are “similar to other students, but also very unique,” she said.

“Compared to an urban campus, our population of students with children is probably relatively small at the undergraduate level,” she said.

As far as what BGSU can offer these students, Carr mentioned child care and housing.

BGSU offers services and programs to all students, as well as students with children, Carr said.

“(We can) augment services we have to meet the unique needs they have,” Carr said. “It’s definitely a university-wide effort.”

BGSU is a public institution, which means it should be invested in the success of all students that come its way, Krueger said.

While there are both undergraduate and graduate students with children at BGSU, their experiences may be different.

Katie Stygles, 31, and a doctoral student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program, has two sets of twins and attends school full time.

Her oldest set of twins, Robert and Lyndon, go to the Child Development Center on campus, and Stygles said they tell everyone they go to school at BGSU.

“I think a lot of (my motivation) is that because education is so important to me, I think it sets a good example for my children,” Stygles said. “It’s wonderful to see that they already value education so much.”

During her time here, Stygles said the faculty and staff has been helpful.

“This faculty sees us as a whole person,” she said. “I’m not just a student. Knowing there would be that support and knowing that the quality of time I spend with my family is more important than the quantity.”

Stygles had two sets of twins, but, even during her first high-risk pregnancy, never took a week off. She worked part time and was attending school for her master’s degree when she and her husband Steve had their first set of twins.

“I was on bed rest and my classmates would bring me recordings of class,” Stygles said. “So I technically never missed a class.”

After her master’s, Stygles worked for a few years, but she knew she wanted to eventually get her Ph.D. Then, her and Steve had another set of twins.

“I thought, holy crap, now I’m never going to be able to get my Ph.D, but everybody has been so encouraging,” Stygles said.

Stygles has found encouragement from faculty and staff at BGSU, her husband and her and her husband’s parents.

Kelbley has found support mostly from her family.

“I have a lot of support,” Kelbley said. “Me and his dad are still together, he helps me out during the weeks.”

Kelbley’s mother and father have also helped her out a lot with Colten, she said.

Though her experiences have been different than Stygles’, Kelbley still wants to set an example for her son, like Stygles does for her children.

“Showing Colten how I’ve done, I want him to understand, if my mom can do it, I can do it.” Kelbley said. “I hope he’s proud of me and he wants to do the same.”

One of the problems Collier hopes to address is that only about 7 percent of single parents who start college actually graduate.

“We’re failing them,” she said.

The website is just one of the first steps in what the Women’s Center would like to offer for students with children.

“We have fantasies down the road to have a resource office for students with parents,” Krueger said. ”My end goal is to challenge the stigma and challenge the invisibility.”

Higher education is about helping students being successful, Krueger said.

“(Students with children) are not disposable,” Krueger said. “They’re just another kind of student … they can succeed and we can claim them as BGSU graduates, they have a lot to offer.”