Written by Matt Dean
Familiarizing yourself with resources for parents and spouses ahead of arrival will make your transition to UCI easier
Moving to a new country for grad school can be an intimidating. The experience might seem even more daunting when bringing along a spouse or child (or both!). With that thought out of the way, I have some good news: UCI is an excellent place to study as a graduate student with dependents. Having moved to Irvine from Canada two years ago, I have some advice about how to make the transition as smooth as possible. I’ll begin with some pressing concerns for students with children, and end with some considerations to keep in mind for students with spouses or partners looking to find work when they arrive.
Childcare
Every parent wants a safe, nurturing environment for their child during the workday. I’ve been a student-parent at three universities now, and I can say without a doubt that UCI has been the most supportive. A large part of this support comes from the excellent childcare options in and around UCI’s student housing.
The option I know the most about is the Children’s Center, a full-time pre-school for kids from 2 ½ to 5 years old. It’s a teaching school, so there are 2 full-time teachers who work with a rotating staff of Teacher Interns from UCI’s early childhood education program. A big perk about this set up is that the student interns are always up to date on current best practices for early childhood education. The program also does a great job of balancing structured learning in the classroom with ample free-play in and around the Center’s beautiful outdoor space. The full-time teachers, Darlene and Crystal, demonstrate a genuine interest in promoting a safe, fun, and educational space for their students.
Other child care options include: Verano Preschool, for children aged 2 to 5 who need part-time care; the Early Childhood Education Center, which is quite similar to the Children’s Center but larger, a little more expensive, and open to non-UCI parents; the Infant Toddler Center for younger children, aged 3 months to 3 years; and the University Montessori of Irvine, which I don’t know a lot about but is something to look into for parents interested in the Montessori method (1). I have heard nothing but praise about each one of these options.
A fantastic perk about these centers is that each is within walking distance of UCI housing! It’s a rare treat to walk just about anywhere in Orange County, so to be able to avoid getting in the car with a tired kid in the morning is something to be thankful for.
Of course, child-care isn’t cheap. The Children’s Center costs $1340 per month and the other options are similar. Something to keep in mind is that if you are a single parent or a low-income household, there is a subsidy available to help with tuition. The subsidy will range from a small help to a nearly full tuition reimbursement, depending on your financial situation and childcare needs. Inquire at any of the programs I have listed for more information. You should also look into whether your department or union has a Child Care Reimbursement program. The School of Humanities, for instance, reimburses up to $1100 per quarter to cover the costs of childcare.
- See here for more detail about each of these options: https://childcare.uci.edu/
Insurance
Sorting out health insurance for my wife and daughter was one of the more stressful parts of our move to the U.S. Coming from a country with Universal Health Care meant that I had no experience navigating a private system with seemingly never-ending options. I hope that the following advice will make the transition easier for you and your family.
The first thing to know is that you, as the student, will have excellent health insurance as part of your financial package. All you need to do is find the Student Health Center on campus and most everyday health concerns will be taken care of. Appointments with specialists are easily arranged, and many specialists are also located on or near campus.
Things are more complicated for dependents. UCI allows you to purchase the same insurance for your dependents that you have for yourself, but – and this is just my opinion, but I think an informed opinion – is that this option is wildly overpriced. It’s about $6500 per year to add a single person, meaning that to insure my wife and daughter for one year would be more than $13,000! You will also need to pay deductibles and copays on top of this price.
What I recommend instead is that you look first at Medi-Cal (2), a program sponsored by the state of California that provides low-cost or free medical insurance for low-income families. It might seem that you, as a non-resident, are not eligible at first, but I can assure you that in most cases you will be. Call the (very friendly) customer service line and ask about coverage. It isn’t perfect – you will have to travel to the doctor that they assign you, for instance – but it is a good place to start.
If you have a spouse who can work in the U.S., it will be worth your time to prioritize looking for jobs that include health insurance. This is by far the ideal scenario for non-residents. It may take some time to find work with insurance benefits (see the next section on work permits), so don’t delay in looking into Medi-Cal.
Work Permit and Job Searches
If your spouse or partner is permitted to work in the U.S., prioritize applying for a work permit as soon as possible, ideally within the first week of your arrival. My family was told that this process can take from three to six months. Being a bit overwhelmed by everything that needed doing when we first arrived, we didn’t end up applying until we were here two months. The application did end up taking six full months, resulting in a rather long eight months without work for my wife. Learn from my procrastination and get on this task right away.
As far as where to look for work, it’s a bit difficult to give general advice. Much depends on work experience and the type of work your partner is looking for. What I will recommend is to try the standard job search sites like Indeed.com and Monster.com. It’s also worth your time to check job-list sites for the county (3) and the city of Irvine (4) (surrounding cities have similar sites), as well as UCI itself (5). Keep in mind that it is very common to have to travel some distance for work in Orange County. An hour or more commute into Los Angeles is unfortunately quite common. Prioritize finding a job on campus if at all possible as your partner’s life will be a lot easier and happier if it’s possible to walk to work!
2. More information: https://www.coveredca.com/medi-cal/
3. https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/oc
4. https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/irvine
5. https://staffing2.hr.uci.edu/CSS_EXTERNAL/CSSPage_Welcome.asp
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I’ll leave things there for now. Please feel free to reach out to me with questions on any of the above, or regarding any other concerns you have about studying at UCI with dependents. I am happy to help. It can be difficult to get your domestic life in order when first arriving in a new country. I hope that what I’ve said will be helpful to you. I do think that you will be happy with the support UCI offers for grad students with dependents once you’re settled in.