Cisneros

Kathryn Cisneros

Holly Batty

English 101 #20228

March 2019

Single Parent College Students

Imagine working fulltime, then, going to school part-time, and when you get home all

you want to do is rest and take it easy. It’s been a long day, just as you're about to sit on youR

couch to rest, your child comes into the room and tells you to play with them. It sounds like a lot,

but on top of all of that, you are also a single parent. Sounds crazy, right? However, 1 in 5

women are single parent college students and only 31% of those women graduate with a degree.

Between the years 1999–2012, “the numbers in single mothers in college more than doubled […]

to nearly 2.1 million students.” (Womens Policy Research). So far, researchers don’t know how

or what to do about this problem. There are however, key things colleges can do to help single

parents.

Now single parent college students are less likely to enroll in a 4-year college. Due to the

fact that they carry other responsibilities, the overwhelming pressure they are in doesn’t allow

for them to take on the duties a 4-year college requires of them. Therefore, most single parents

enroll in a 2-year community college, as part-time college student. Whom will most likely take

night classes. Most single parent's college students either work a fulltime job or a part-time job.

Considering their circumstances, most single parents struggle financially, and more than likely

cannot afford a babysitter. At Los Angeles Valley College, there is a family resource center that

offers help through daycare services. Unfortunately, the center is only open Monday – Friday

from 7:45 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., which the time itself is great, if the college students worked at night,
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which the majority don’t. The Child Development Center, not only takes in students' children but

also staff’s children. For the staff's children it’s very ideal, because their parents work while

they’re in daycare, unlike the students who work all day to go to school at night. The center then

opens Monday – Thursday from 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. As an after-school program. The evening

classes commence from 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., since the daycare closes two hours before the

students get out of class, some students have to worry about finding a babysitter or leaving mid-

class to get their children from the daycare. Which only adds another stress on single parent

college students.

At LAVC the Child Development Center, is the only center, in LA County amongst

colleges that stays open until 8 p.m. Which, that fact, seemed so alarming, the fact that these

single parents aren’t receiving the help they so badly need. More colleges should extend their

hours for their daycare centers. This way parents don’t worry about how they’re going to get

through the next week. Trying to find a babysitter, or worry if they’ll be missing any important

announcements in class, or have to worry about making enough money to pay for a sitter, so they

get an education and one day overcome this difficult time in their life. I understand most staff

wouldn’t want to stay longer hours, but schools can always hire people who are willing to stay,

people who, maybe, also need the money. Not only will the colleges help that student, they will

also take away some of their anxieties. The American Health Association conducted research

among regular college students and single parent college students, they concluded, “Finances,

family, and relationship difficulties disproportionally affected single parents, who reported

nearly twice as many suicide attempts as their counterparts. Single-parenting students face a

higher prevalence of mental health stressors than other community college students.” (Journal of

American College Health Vol. 64 Issue 2, p152-156). Not only do single parents think about just
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dropping out of school. Some just cannot deal with the stress their lives bring, so they end up

taking their own life, which, in the end, they leave a child behind. That child then becomes an

orphan.

A lot of colleges offer students help regarding counseling, daycares, scholarships, but like

every other regular student, the majority of people don’t know where to find these resources.

Colleges expect for the students to know or figure it out for themselves. Which yes, I understand

college students are adults, they should be able to do these task on their own. Yet, many don’t. It’s

not because they’re lazy or they don’t care, the majority of time college students are scared or they

are too embarrassed to ask for help. Some are ashamed to ask for help, thinking they’ll be looked

down upon. Colleges should have some type of representative. A student that familiarizes

themselves with the campus’s resources. Then the representative goes to classes to discuss some

of those resource's, that way, single parent's college students would feel more inclined to look into

their possibilities.

Thus, granting students with the help they need. Single Parent college students that they

are just as important. Therefore, it would make sense to not only help them with childcare, but

also offer counseling just in case they need someone to talk to. This way the suicide rates of

single parents would decrease. Colleges should offer them resources that offers financial help. It

could be in a scholarship, grant, or even a loan with a low APR. This way, students would feel

more inclined to not drop out of school. Maybe even some single parents, wouldn’t feel so

intimidated to possibly apply for a four-year college. When these single parents get the help they

deserve, the school will not only uplift a human being, but also make them feel that the sacrifice

they’re making, are worth it. And that one day the student will look back at their college career

and feel that their community cared not only for them, but their family as well.
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Work Cited

Shenoy, Divya P., et al. “The Mental Health Status of Single-Parent Community College

Students in California.” Journal of American College Health, vol. 64, no. 2, Feb. 2016, pp. 152–

156. EBSCOhost,

Reports, APM. “Nearly 1 in 5 Female College Students Are Single Moms.” APM

Reports, www.apmreports.org/story/2018/01/15/single-mothers-college-graduation.