September 6, 2023 | Read Time: 2 minutes
While pursuing her doctorate degree in education, Lygia Stebbing looked at the growing number of state and federal mandates for early-childhood educators to have a bachelor’s degree and saw a problem. She worried that degree requirements would push women of color out of the field and focused her dissertation on that topic. Along the way, Stebbing came up with a solution that bypasses barriers that often prevent women of color from obtaining college degrees.
One of the biggest roadblocks was the class schedule. Too often, the courses teachers needed to earn their degrees met during their work hours. What if there was a way to build a higher-education program that worked for educators? With that idea, EDvance College was born.
“We take the guesswork out of everything,” Stebbing says.
Now an accredited degree-granting institution, the nonprofit EDvance College offers working childhood educators the courses they need to prepare to earn a degree, as well as a full 120-unit program to complete a B.A. in early-childhood studies. Students can take all their classes remotely in the evenings and on weekends. Instructors require students to demonstrate practical applications of what they learn in class by submitting videos of themselves integrating those skills and strategies into their teaching.
“It’s really a way to ensure that they’re getting college credit for the work experience and the work that they’re doing in the early-childhood classroom,” Stebbing says.
As they work toward their degrees, students have support from peers and student-success advocates who work with them one-on-one and help them through challenges with their course loads, mental health, housing, and access to affordable food.
What’s more, students earn their degrees at no cost, thanks to grants from foundations. EDvance College is currently working to become eligible for federal financial aid but plans to continue using grants to cover any leftover costs after federal grants kick in.
About 120 students in the California Bay Area will begin earning their degrees or preparing to do so through EDvance College this year. They’ll join a network of more than 300 Bay Area students who have already earned their degrees.
