When Marcia Larson attended UW-Eau Claire, beginning in 1984, she had a lot more to worry about than her classes. She was the single mother of three children, ages four, nine and 13.

“It was crazy,” she said. “It just took a lot of planning.”

Larson’s kids were involved in sports and piano lessons, she had homework to do, laundry and all the other day-to-day chores.

But she made it, graduating in four years with a degree in organizational communication.

“It was important for me to get a college degree,” Larson said. “It was a goal I wanted to achieve and I also thought it was a very good example to set for my children.”

Larson saw firsthand the challenges that face single-parents students, which is why she donated a substantial financial gift to support single-parent scholarships at UW-Eau Claire.

Support for single-parent scholarships has increased steadily the last few years, from a total of $4,000 in 1999, to $10,000 in 2000, to $17,000 in 2001, said Vicky Petermann, UW-Eau Claire Foundation director of development research and donor relations.

The goal this year is to award $30,000 worth of scholarships to single-parent students, Petermann said. Full-time students are eligible for $1,000 scholarships and part-time students are eligible for $500. Both men and women can receive them, she said.

Although funding for the single-parent scholarship has been increasing, it still touches only a portion of the single-parent students enrolled at the university.

A total of 24 single-parent scholarships were awarded during the 2001-02 academic year, but at least 104 university students were single parents during that time, Petermann said.

She added that the average single-parent has $4,607 in student loans for one school year.

Larson said she was lucky to not work while she was going to school and raising her family. She wants to give other single parents that opportunity as well so they can spend more time with their children.

“I think any extra thing we can do to help adult students and single parents,” Larson said, “is a real beneficial idea.”