Family Resources

Balancing your life as a scholar and as a parent in graduate school may get challenging. Brown University is committed to supporting master's students with children and strives to provide resources and support necessary to help parents thrive in their time at Brown.

Activities & Childcare

Local Childcare

Explore options and find creative solutions to some of the child care challenges you may face.

Brown University’s Child Care Subsidy helps pay for child care expenses for degree-seeking students by granting awards of up to $5,000 per year, per child (up to 3 children) for those whose total household adjusted gross income is less than or equal to $100,000 per year. The Subsidy covers child care for dependents between the ages of 0 to 6 and will vary from family to family and year to year depending on a family's financial need and a range of other factors. The subsidy helps you explore options and find creative solutions to some of the child care challenges you may face.

Deadline to apply is in October
Students must reapply each year
Questions? Contact: childcare@brown.edu

Brown Student Parent Community

The Brown Student Parent Community is a place for graduate student parents to connect, share information and resources, and build community while a student parent at Brown. The group meets monthly, alternating between in-person meetings on campus and Zoom meetings. For questions, or if you are interested in receiving more information about the group, please email bspc@brown.edu.

Brown Student Parent Community (GRASPP) Listserv

The Brown Graduate Student Parent Community is a discussion list for individuals who are raising children while attending graduate school or while working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Brown University. The list is hosted by the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender. Please use your BROWN.EDU address when subscribing.

Private Lactation Spaces

Nursing parent in the Workplace Policy

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Map of lactation spaces on campus

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Parental Relief Policy for Graduate Students

Brown University is committed to supporting all of our graduate students in their professional development, and to finding ways to accommodate life events in that process. The Parental Relief Policy is aimed at helping graduate students successfully balance their parenting responsibilities and their academic and professional pursuits and is designed to partially ameliorate the academic and professional demands on graduate student parents who are primary caregivers of newly born or adopted children.

The policy provides a stipend for the duration of a semester or summer, otherwise covered by stipend support, regardless of funding source. The stipend is at the standard rate set annually by the Graduate School. Eligibility requirements and other information about the policy can be found in the Graduate School Handbook.

Students who are not eligible for parental relief should contact any Associate Dean in the Graduate School (or in the Biology and Bio-medical programs, see the Associate Dean for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) to request modifications of academic responsibilities because of the birth or adoption of a child. Such students include many Master’s students and doctoral students beyond year 6. The Associate Deans will provide guidance to the student and, in close consultation with faculty advisors, department chairs or DGSs, arrange for reasonable accommodation of parenting demands when possible.

Application (available in UFunds under Graduate Student Leave and Accommodations)

Eligibility

Graduate students in good or satisfactory academic standing who are supported by a stipend are eligible for parental relief for the care of a newly born infant or adopted child under 16 years of age. Doctoral students beyond year 6 are not eligible for parental relief. Graduate students may request parental relief up to two times during their tenure as a student at Brown. Length of Parental Relief: The relief provides a stipend for one semester or a summer. Students electing summer support will receive the summer support outlined in the applicant’s admissions letter at the monthly stipend rate set by the Graduate School. Financial Terms: The Graduate School provides support at the rate of the standard base stipend for the duration of the relief period. Health insurance, health service fee coverage, and dental insurance for the student are maintained. Students receiving funding from external sources, such as government grants, may, subject to the conditions established by the funding source, elect to be fully supported by the Graduate School for the term of the parental relief instead of by the external funding source. Concurrent stipends from an external source and the Graduate School are not allowed. Request Procedure: Graduate students who anticipate the birth or adoption of a child are encouraged to meet early with any Associate Dean in the Graduate School (or in the Biology and Bio-medical programs, see the Associate Dean for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies), to address questions about the parental relief policy. Students should submit the Parental Relief Request form (found here on the Graduate School website) to the Graduate School. The Graduate School will share the request with the student’s department and ask the Chair, DGS and faculty or research advisor, as applicable, to sign the form to indicate awareness of the parental relief request. The student is encouraged to communicate with the advisor(s) and director of graduate study (DGS) as early as possible prior to the anticipated start of the parental relief term in order to allow programs to rearrange teaching duties and research directors to work out schedules as appropriate. Supporting Documents: Students approved for Parental Relief are required to submit supporting documents of the adoption or childbirth event 15 days before or after the event. See also: Family Leave of Absence section.

Additional Resources

For more information on Brown policies and resources, community resources, health, medical and women's resources, or guidance for your move to Providence, please visit the Graduate School's page.

Graduate School