A profile of the college student has changed in the last few decades. It’s changed because more students today are parents.

Iowa State has recognized the needs of these adult students, and on Monday children of students, faculty and staff acted upon these needs by breaking ground for a new child care center near the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The center, which will be about 8,000 square feet, will be designed to hold more than 80 children.

Its clientele would be infants to children who are old enough to attend school.

The $1.46 million project will help serve students who don’t have to worry about whom to drop their kids off with before they go to class.

It will help avoid the sometimes annoying venture of taking their kids to class with them.

And it will help erase the final, but most unlikely option, of leaving their kids home alone.

This new facility will help ease the worries of many ISU parents who have no babysitter to turn to. It is important parents take advantage of this so they are secure with the fact that their children are in a safe, health, happy environment during the day.

“Your family is important to you. Therefore, your family is important to Iowa State University,” said Carla Espinoza, assistant vice president of Human Resource Services, at Monday’s ground breaking ceremony.

Child care services are important part in any university community, and ISU is fortunate to already have University Community Childcare in Pammel Court available.

“Breaking ground symbolizes the beginning of something new,” said ISU President Martin Jischke Monday. “Children are life’s examples of new beginnings.”

And as importantly, a new child care center is an example of a new beginning for the children of Iowa State.