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- Higher levels of life satisfaction and personal happiness
- Higher levels of self-esteem

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Why social-emotional intelligence matters in school | Kate Karafotas | TEDxYouth@ISPrague

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- Job security and job stability
- Career Satisfaction

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Economic Benefits of Strong Educational Standards

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- Have a clearer sense of self-identity
- Make more effective consumer choices and decisions

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- More likely to have health insurance and better coverage
- Live longer and heathier life

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During college years, students become more sedentary and as their physical activities decrease, their Body Mass Index and weight increases. It's a gradual process, students come out of college significantly less active and heavier compared to when they started their freshman year. Overall health benefits of physical activity significantly reduces ones rick of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even some types of cancers. Being more physically active strengthens your bones and muscles, improves your overall mental health and mood, and increases your chances of living longer. A study conducted of 493 college students, proved that between men and women, men reported more hours per week doing sedentary behaviors than women, but they also reported higher levels of exercise compared to women.

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Physical Heath Benefit in College Students

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During college years, students become more sedentary and as their physical activities decrease, their Body Mass Index and weight increases. It's a gradual process, students come out of college significantly less active and heavier compared to when they started their freshman year.

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5. Higher Quality of Life for Their Children 

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5. Higher Quality of Life for Their Children 

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- Spend more time with their children
- More likely to save money for their children to go to college

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Bronsyn Foster's 8-year-old son wondered why his mother was still in school.

"He said, 'Why couldn't you just finish school before you had me?'" said Foster, now 48. "It's hard for a little kid to understand why you can't be around more often."

Yet he was one of the main reasons she was, at nearly 40-years-old, back in the classroom. After the single mother was laid off from her job as a graphic designer at a newspaper during the Great Recession, her path forward was a giant question mark. She had dropped out of college years before. And so, in 2009, she enrolled at the University of Washington to become a speech language pathologist.

"I was worried if I didn't finish my degree, I'd never have a job that paid enough to take care of the both of us," Foster said.

It was tough being the mother of a young child and a student again. She rode buses and ferries for hours each day to commute from their house in Kitsap County to The University of Washington, so that she wouldn't have to relocate her son. "I wanted to keep things as stable as I could for him," Foster said.

Also, she needed her mother, who lived nearby, to take care of her son. She was living off federal student loans, and childcare wouldn't fit in her budget. Still, she realized her mother was making sacrifices. "She planned her work around her time with my son," Foster said. And now, she said, "my mother doesn't have much money - or any - for retirement."

Today more than 1 in 5 undergraduate students are parents, yet colleges aren't doing enough to ease these students' financial burdens, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

The U.S. Department of Education has a program designed to provide support to low-income mothers and fathers pursuing their bachelor's degrees through childcare support and funding.

While the program helped to cover the childcare costs of some 4,000 children of parent students in 2016-2017, another 4,200 children were stuck on a waiting list for assistance.

Under that program, student parents could also be eligible for federal loans to help pay for their childcare expenses, by asking their colleges to include an allowance for dependent care expenses in their financial aid calculations. However, colleges don't always adequately publicize this information, the GAO found. Two-thirds of the college websites the watchdog group reviewed made no mention of the option.

"Parents who are trying to build a better life for their children through education should be given every opportunity available to access quality, affordable childcare while completing their degree," said U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., in statement in response to the report.

For her part, Foster said she had no clue there were additional financial resources available to students with children such as herself.

Students with children are less likely to graduate than other students, said Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of SavingforCollege.com. "If their babysitter is sick, they have to stay home from school, missing class," Kantrowitz said. "This affects academic performance and eventually whether they graduate."

Half of parents with children said they paid for childcare, which cost them on average nearly $500 a month, the GAO found.

I wish colleges more prominently advertised their childcare options.

the founder of The Institute for Student Loan Advisors

Students with children can ask for their cost of attendance to include childcare costs, which could increase their financial aid, said Betsy Mayotte, the founder of The Institute for Student Loan Advisors. "They can also use existing childcare to request an adjustment that could decrease their estimated family contribution, which can also potentially increase their aid eligibility," she said.

Some scholarships, she added, can also be used to pay for childcare. For example, the Soroptomist's Live Your Dream Award, offers women students up to $16,000 to pay for college and childcare expenses.

And many students with children don't realize the Education Department offers a special grant for childcare, Kantrowitz said.

"Often, they return to school to finish their education in an attempt to break themselves out of a cycle of poverty," Kantrowitz said. "Unfortunately, while colleges have good daycare for faculty and staff, many don't have it for students."
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1 in 5 college students are parents. Schools could be doing more to help them

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Bronsyn Foster's 8-year-old son wondered why his mother was still in school. "He said, 'Why couldn't you just finish school before you had me?'" said Foster, now 48. "It's hard for a little kid to understand why you can't be around more often."

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- Stronger interpersonal and hum relations skills
- More social self confidence

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Opinion
By Linda Williams
A college education is one of the most significant milestones in one's life. As a parting gift, your college education will reward you with innumerable practical and workplace-applicable skills to improve your marketability. Traditionally, most assume that a college education is only about financial and academic benefits. However, this preconceived notion couldn't be further from the truth.

While it's certainly true that a college education often furnishes us with economic and intellectual advancement, other hidden benefits come with a college degree. For example, while earning an associate's or bachelor's degree, a student will derive emotional and health benefits vital for success in one's education, career, and personal life.

Of course, to access the above-mentioned benefits, you'll need to successfully apply and enroll in the higher-education institution of your choice. If you're in the process of applying for colleges, it's important to check out the admissions calculator by CollegeData. Using this online resource, students can calculate their chances of gaining admission to over 2,000 colleges and universities in the country. It's an easy process that helps estimate your admission chances and explains the rationale behind the results.

Social and emotional benefits of college education

After submitting a college application and receiving an acceptance letter, you might wonder what awaits you in college. The reality is that these two to four years of college are packed full of fun and opportunities to exercise your independence, two things most college-aged students seek out.

However, the fun of spending time with your roommates and exploring the real-world are just two components of most students' college experience. By the time you earn your associate's or bachelor's degree, you'll have gained numerous social and emotional benefits along the way.

The social/emotional learning (SEL) that students go through in colleges is incomparable. It helps students achieve the following:

Emotional intelligence: the ability to understand their emotions and those of others

Setting achievable positive goals

Showing empathy and sympathy to others

Being responsible

Interacting positively with others

A concrete SEL program helps students capitalize on the following emotional and mental health benefits.

Boosted self-esteem

If you finished high school and felt plagued by low self-esteem, by the time you've completed your undergraduate degree, your self-esteem will have increased. Why? Because the college environment promotes emotional and mental growth.

Without your parents' physical presence to provide guidance, social interaction is an unspoken survival tactic in colleges. As a college student, you'll get to refine the interpersonal skills that help you interact better with your peers, raising your self-esteem. Upon graduation, you can carry these skills into a workplace environment or a potential interview.

Increases independence

One of the hallmarks of a college education is an increased sense of independence. Most graduates will claim the most notable benefit of the college experience is the freedom to set your sleeping schedule, plan your study sessions as you see fit, and engage in risky behaviors your parents would otherwise disapprove of. While a college campus may sound like a free-for-all, it's a perfect environment to cultivate your autonomy.

Although some students choose to ignore their parents' advice to abstain from drugs and alcohol, this increased sense of independence isn't entirely dangerous. For many, college empowers students to live on their own. It helps students make decisions and own them. Similarly, if they make mistakes, they learn from them and make better judgments in the future.

Improves self-awareness

The support system, composed of roommates, mentors, professors, and friends, helps students become self-aware of who they are. In a college environment, students understand why they behave in a certain way and learn how it affects other people. This self-awareness helps students make responsible decisions and stay mindful of others' needs.

Additionally, self-awareness encourages college students to mature into the adults they're supposed to become. To avoid stunted growth, immerse yourself in clubs, study groups, and roommate bonding activities.

Promotes emotional stability

Through programs like SEL (social and emotional learning), students are less likely to exhibit stress, depressive symptoms, and symptoms of anxiety conditions. Even when faced with challenging situations, students feel equipped with enough life skills to resolve the problems at hand and self-soothe.

Unfortunately, SEL programs can't guarantee that students will remain 100 percent stress-proof. However, these programs promise to equip students with proactive stress management skills, reducing the chances of suffering from a debilitating mental breakdown due to intensive course loads.

Enhances relationships with others

College education instills social skills in students, which leads to positive social behavior. With these skills in their back pocket, students can relate better with peers, teachers, parents, and the general public. These interpersonal skills are enhanced further when teachers challenge students to look beyond the classroom and engage in networking activities.

In most cases, college students get to build relationships that last for a lifetime. Sometimes, a student will connect with a professor, who can later refer them to a full-time position. Others will build a close group of friends bound to appear in the graduate's bridal party. Either way, these two to four years are an excellent opportunity to expand your current social network.

Increases motivation

This self-driven motivation will eventually kick-in when students leave their parents and home communities to start their college journey. Once a student has acquired the discipline necessary, they'll notice an innate drive to excel in academics and personal growth matters. This drive is even more pronounced when students participate in extracurricular activities, such as sports and political organizations.

Non-academic engagements provide a fertile ground for students to learn group dynamics. This way, students develop leadership and followership skills that motivate them to become dependable team players in the future.

To conclude

No longer are the days when faculty and staff expect students to cast their emotions aside and focus solely on academics. Today, besides benefiting students academically and financially, a college education is integral in equipping students with emotional benefits to cope with daily challenges.

Students cultivate excellent skills in problem-solving and emotional management when attending university. Such benefits guarantee long-standing effects that benefit schools, society, and the workplace. With these bonuses in mind, consider attending college even if a degree won't necessarily ensure a pay increase in your chosen industry.

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The Unspoken Social and Emotional Benefits of a College Education - The Apopka Voice

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By Linda Williams A college education is one of the most significant milestones in one's life. As a parting gift, your college education will reward you with innumerable practical and workplace-applicable skills to improve your marketability. Traditionally, most assume that a college education is only about financial and academic benefits.

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- Greater knowledge of current events
- Less likely to be incarcerated