A low-income student can pay as little as $1,560 for yearly child care at Oswego State.

Due to federal subsidies, grants and scholarships for low-income students, this is less than half the regional average of $11,700 per year, according to Child Care Aware of America.

The Children’s Center in Sheldon Hall in Oswego is one of many SUNY funded services throughout the state that provide high-quality, low cost day care to students with children.

“Child care is very expensive for parents. It can be as much as a mortgage,” said Kathleen Lea, Director of the Oswego State Children’s Center.

The center offers children ages 18 months to 5 years a curriculum of arts, music, writing and creative movement math, and science.

Oswego State students can pay as little as $15 per week for part-time child care and $30 per week for full-time care.

Parents can apply for a scholarship that is based on household income that can help pay for child care costs.

“SUNY gives us money,” Lea said. “It helps support students who often have much lower than the median average household income. It helps them be able to go to school.”

SUNY offers the child care and development block grant to families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty level.

“Access to on-campus child care can often be the deciding factor in a student’s ability to attend college,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher in a press release sent by Gov. Cuomo’s office.

Families who are ineligible for aid pay $180 per week for full-time care of toddlers and $165 per week for preschoolers.

“Childcare is very expensive” Lea said. “On $50,000 a year, taking $180 out a week for a toddler is a really big chunk out of your budget. If you have more than one child, it is even harder.”

According to Lea, 10 to 20 percent of parents use additional aid to fund their weekly child care costs.

Parents spend approximately $9,360 per child for annual on-campus day care. This is at least $2,000 more than Oswego State tuition.

“I know it’s hard,” Lea said. “[The parents] say it’s hard.”

The rising cost of child care in the U.S. forces families to search for cheaper options that might not provide the high quality of an accredited center.

More than 39 percent of income-eligible families have come in contact with the subsidy system, according to a report by the Administration for Children and Families.

The rapid rise of the minimum wage will impact day care workers if the state does not offset the extra costs.

“Most center will probably have to raise parent fees to keep up with the new minimum age increases,” Lea said. “Day care employees don’t make high salaries. There are no profits to be made. Centers are usually forced to pass higher costs on to parents.”

According to Lea, the starting wage for an Oswego State daycare teacher’s aide is $9.58 per hour.

In 2009, the state gave  $107,000 to the Children’s Center. This funding has steadily slipped to $74,000, over the past eight years.

SUNY plans to restore childcare funding with $1.1 million.