Addressing How Student Parents Are Underserved

Two new reports from The California Alliance for Student Parent Success (The Alliance) detail the challenges that student parents face at California institutions. The reports analyze the available data and call for more research to be gathered so that this population can be served more effectively.

Approximately 300,000 undergraduate student parents are currently enrolled at institutions of higher education in the state of California. While pursuing their education, they grapple with a number of challenges in a higher education system that has historically overlooked their needs and experiences, according to the report. Childcare, housing, balancing school with work and family obligations are key issues.

“Juggling Roles and Achieving Goals: The California Student Parents Almanac” presents existing federal data to show the demographics, academic experiences, financial situations and barriers faced by student parents. Meanwhile, “Making the Invisible Visible: Taking Stock of How the California State University Collects and Uses Data About Parenting Students” details the need for more data to develop more comprehensive and effective means of serving this population. Both reports were administered by California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy and EdTrust-West.

Dr. Su Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes, a policy and research organization focused on identifying solutions to the state’s most critical challenges at the intersection of higher education, equity, and the economy, said more consistent and comprehensive data collection will allow researchers to do complex research that will lead to better solutions.

“The system and individuals unnecessarily make things really tough for them to excel,” said Jez. She noted that student parents have higher GPAs than their non-parenting peers but are less likely to graduate. The California Student Aid Commission, which administers the state’s financial aid program, has found that student parents face housing and food insecurity at a higher rate than non-parenting peers.

“It’s important to note that this is just as much a racial and gender justice issue as it is a socioeconomic one,” said Dr. Christopher J. Nellum, executive director of EdTrust-West, an organization that focuses on racial equity and educational justice. Nellum added that the information in the reports is of national relevance. “It affects women and people of color disproportionately and even more so women of color,” he said.

The data shows that student parents predominantly live in rural and inland areas where there are less colleges. 61% are first-generation college students. 47% work full-time and 83% enroll part-time or for part of the year. 72% are Black, Latinx, Pacific Islander or Native American. They have a median age of 34. Nearly two thirds attend one of California’s 116 community colleges and on average comprise 19% of a community college’s student population.

“We hope higher ed leaders—campus presidents, provosts, chancellors—read these reports and ask within their institutions who are the student parents on campus and what are their outcomes,” said Jez. “Harnessing more data effectively is a critical first step in advancing student parent success.”

Nellum said that data can unlock resources by allowing institutions to make a quantitative case for funding programs that benefit student parents. For example, Child Care Access Means Parents in School provides federal funding for campus-based childcare programs.

“The Almanac” indicates that institutions should submit parenting status to the California Cradle-to-Career Data System so student parents can be tracked across institutions to measure how their educational and employment experiences affect their lives and those of their children. The hope is that elected officials and other policymakers reading these two reports might consider policies that will enable higher education institutions to better serve student parents.

Jez noted that some students desire to live on campus, but there is rarely family housing. Data in “The Almanac” indicates that just 1% enrolled in 2019-20 lived on campus. The California legislature has made large investments in college housing, but only a small percentage of colleges included housing for student parents in their applications for funds.

The mission of California Competes is to help transform the state’s higher education system into an engine of economic opportunity that empowers all Californians, particularly those from underserved communities, to achieve their educational and career goals. Jez sees student parents as central to that mission because it has multi-generational impact.

“We really believe that investing in student parents is a long-term strategy for economic resilience and shared prosperity across the state,” Jez said.

“Making the Invisible Visible” recommends including various data points, such as adding parenting student status to California State University dashboards.

Other things that can benefit student parents, explained Jez, are flexible course schedules and broader childcare options. This could include childcare vouchers that could be used on campus, for a babysitter or with a community provider. She also noted that student parents would benefit from being able to use a Section 8 housing voucher for campus housing.

A bill is currently before California Governor Gavin Newsom that would allow colleges to more comprehensively identify the student parents they serve and make data collection more consistent. It would also expand financial aid access for student parents to account for the true costs of attending college.

“This is not just about changing individual lives, it’s about impact at a generational level,” said Nellum. “If we do it right, it could be a huge boon for the entire California economy.”

The Alliance will host a free webinar on the topic on Oct. 1. Register here.