Ashley Alba

EAD 262

Student Parents in Higher Education

Higher education is a system after high school that provides individuals to continue to

pursue their education in the choice of their study. In doing so, college students will obtain their

bachelors and put their degree into practice within society. College students are a significant part

of the system and process of higher education. The students keep the system revolving and put

forth a positive image of student graduates. Setting up students for success is the primary goal

for institutions. Higher education adds on to building a student’s resume and educational

background. Again, college students make up the system but gaining an understanding of who

those college students are brings in depth that has yet to be explored. This paper will examine the

student parent population in higher education. I believe there has not been enough focus with this

group in a college setting. Nearly twenty five percent of college students in the United States

have dependent children (Nelson, 2013).

Student parents in college face levels of barriers making it very difficult to remain in

higher education. Barriers of financial support, advising support, childcare and maintaining

employment thus far have been the main conflicts. While accessing and transitioning into a

college setting as a student parent, this paper provides a deep exploration of this specific student

group and their obstacles in higher education. First, we must be aware of what the current

characteristics are of a college student. The characteristics of a college student has changed

dramatically. Enrolled college students range in age, race, socioeconomic backgrounds and at

different phases in their personal life. Other characteristics that involve student parents may be a

single parent, part or full-time employee, unemployed, part or full-time student, and may lack
support in various ways. The relationship between a student parent and higher education involve

challenges that significantly impact retention rates of that student group. Student parents are also

not concerned with their own student involvement and rather focus on their studies. This paper

will analyze this groups challenges, retention rates, graduation statistics, their sense of belonging

and some possible recommendations.

Costa explains the first step in accommodating student parents is to recognize them. This

group can easily be invisible and remain invisible. Student parents are not easily sought out

which can make it a problem with so with creating accommodations for this group. Although

accommodations are yet to be meet the challenges are clear. Challenges are significantly obvious

with student parents. Being a parent substantially increases the likelihood of leaving college

without a degree. Student parents operate under pressure of deadlines or time demands of

assignments, with more than forty percent working full time or more and over half spending

thirty hours per week on care giving (Nelson, 2013). The parent and student role are yet to find a

common ground on making both roles become a realistic approach. Other challenges associated

with attending and completing postsecondary school for student parents is childcare and lack of

support from the institution. The existence for support onto this group has been reduced over

time. Forty nine percent of a four-year college institution provided childcare on campus in 2015,

that is less than the fifty five percent that did in 2003 and 2004, also institutions that provide

childcare have long waiting lists (Long, 2017). College students who are parents need reliable

and affordable childcare. Supporting student parent success is critical and necessary to ensure the

fulfillment of receiving their degree. Student parents do not approach their problems or needs

onto the college campus and therefore the lack of support is dominant. The reason student

parents do not approach this matter is because they believe the focus goes to the traditional
students (Long, 2017). Student parents acknowledge that they are not the typical student image.

This group accepts it and feel that institution resources do not apply to them. Student parents also

do not reach out because they already feel the burden themselves.

Also, the adversity of being a single parent is a challenge. A single parent can lack in

support from the other parent, financial support, family support or/and postsecondary school

support. Typically, with a student parent the lack of financial support that traditional students

often receive is from their family. While being a single parent they are also financially

supporting their child or children and themselves. On top of supporting their dependents they are

also trying to pay the cost of tuition. Studies prove that there is a gap in financial aid onto student

parents. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) fails to accurately measure student

financial need, which is box one in the application (Long, 2017). This is a problem when federal

assistance analyzes the financial need for nontraditional students which includes student parents.

Most nontraditional college students are engaged in the labor market when they apply for

financial aid (Long, 2017). The government assumes this income level will remain the same after

college enrollment, the nontraditional student is likely to experience a reduction in earnings

while enrolled (Long, 2017). The reason for reduction in earnings, in most cases is that the

parent student cut their hours in order to attend classes.

This creates an assumption onto the parent student that results in an overstatement of the

income available and an understatement to their financial need. Student parent challenges may

also involve being a single parent that receive no support from the other parent. There also is

lack of support from the higher education system and underserving this group of students.

Postsecondary schools need to put focus on the student parent’s success as well and ensure that

their voice must be heard. Childcare is a large reason for the dropout rates of student parents.
Without childcare they can no longer pursue their higher education goals. If the student parent

has no childcare nor support from family or other parent, the only outcome from that is leaving

their postsecondary school. Lastly financial assistance is another obstacle a student parent deals

with while trying to access higher education. Most student parents do not recieve financial

support as traditional students do. These students face issues of affordability for their

postsecondary education. Student parents are already facing setbacks as they began to purse

higher education. With these measures’ student parents are set up for failure by dropping out due

to the challenges they face.

With the many challenges that comes with being a student parent they also are trying to

manage the multiple roles they carry. Adding academics to the work or family living condition is

an added stressor. While a student parent is striving to retain a degree to advance their education,

learning how to balance that added role is yet to be determined. Salle suggests Goode’s theory

involving strategies for balancing multiple roles. Goode states that there are four strategies for

resolving role conflict within student parents (Sallee, 2015). The four are compartmentalization,

delegation, eliminate and role extension. Compartmentalization is where the person is focused on

the demands of one role, in the exclusion of all others. Delegation involves when the parent

relies on the other parent or other individual, to delegate the majority of the functions of one role.

Perhaps delegating the entire caregiving role of caring for their children is an example. Third is

the strategy of elimination within the role of relationships. An example is the student parent

might decide to eliminate relationship or sacrifice close friends. Lastly is role extension which

means that the student parent may add on to their role of a student and pick up an internship. An

example of this is the individual will pick up more on top of the other responsibilities.
 Student parents navigating multiple roles deal with the demands of their time in many

ways. It also includes relying on their own creation of time management and downplaying their

roles as parents (Sallee, 2015). Time management is important when involving student parents,

these group of students are managing their own time on top of their family time. It also helps

balance their time and putting focus in one role at a time. Specifically, in woman, mothers

develop stronger time management skills and greater efforts of time management. Although a

negative attribute comes from time management. Parents face the feeling of guilt when focusing

their entire time on their studies. With the possibly of spending less time with their partners and

children. With much positive efforts of time management there is also guilt with putting more

time into their academia.

With the involvement of juggling multiple roles also comes conflicts of duties within

those individual roles. While completing homework assignments on top of their parent duties it

is difficult to focus on homework when children are near, or their other roles are present while

doing so. When children are present and the student parent has no other choice to work on

assignments but home, it is difficult to complete their academic obligations. Parent students have

had to face decisions on whether or not to complete an assignment. Or the thought of which

assignment has more priority over the others are decisions they have had to make. Also, many

student parents have thought that they dedicated less time to their assignments, if they had not

been parents, they could have devoted more time (Sallee, 2015). While being student parents,

juggling multiple roles and duties of those roles are decisions they must make as individuals.

Trying to seek the best time management that works for them is difficult along with the barriers

of navigating the college setting. Being a student parent differs drastically from being a regular

college student. A regular student involves removing the barriers of childcare, financial
assistance, family support, time management and juggling multiple roles. The idea that academia

can be tackled by time management is short of the truth. Time management is one of the many

factors needed for a student parent to success in higher education.

Student parents also find strategies with fulfilling their family responsibilities. Their

academia demands were shaped by their parental responsibilities but also found that their

parental responsibilities were also shaped by the demands of their assignments (Sallee, 2015).

Both responsibilities would either out weight the other or one had more dedicated time than the

other. Navigating their time with assignments and family responsibilities are created by each of

those roles and the time needed to complete those tasks. In other words, time dedicated to family

is what was left after their completed school assignments. Or the time dedicated to assignments

was given after the family responsibilities. Conflicts of prioritizing the parent role is also present.

As a parent your children also have their own events of whether it be a school play, sports, and

after school activities. Making decisions of attending class or after school events is a difficult one

to make. As a parent you want to be present for all of your child or children’s functions. But

determining what is important over the other is a difficult decision to make. There may also be

reduced time in your children’s life that causes guilt again into the parent. Guilt is much more

prevalent and higher in higher education among student parents (Brooks, 2015).

Also, the choice in career paths or choosing of their study program is based on what their

parent role can work with best. Their career path choice may not be the one they wanted because

it didn’t work around their other roles. Student parents make purposeful choices about their

career paths based on their surroundings (Sallee, 2015). Student parents also stated that if it

wasn’t for their supervisors and the flexibility of the study program, they would have not been

successful. Although they made a decision based on what works best for the family and their
other roles, which I find problematic. A parent should follow what drives them and not base it on

their family. Going into higher education is providing the practice any individual wants to

perform in the labor market. So, then a parent must perform the work of their interest and put it

into work. The idea that a parent makes decisions about their career paths off of what can work

for a parent is an issue. Any study program in higher education should be able to work around a

parent and be aware of any students’ roles of outside of the college setting.

Graduation and retention rates are another contributing factor with student parents in

higher education. Among the group of low-income or first-generation college students, more

than a third are parents (Nelson, 2013). The racial group with the highest numbers is African

American. Thirty seven percent are African American, thirty three percent are Native American,

and twenty five percent are Latino students (Nelson, 2013). The percentage of student parents

leaving college after six years without a degree is fifty three percent over nonparent students at

thirty one percent. Student parents are more common now than ever before and their success is

important to their family economic security. On top of being a student parent they may also be

first generation college students. Forty nine percent are first generation college students (Nelson,

2013). Also, low income college students with children are at a thirty-three-percentage rate while

low income single student parents are at a seventy eight percent (Nelson, 2013). These numbers

are important and continue to grow in higher education within student parents.

The rates of student parents’ financial needs are also a problem. Student parents have a

higher unmet financial need despite the higher rates of aid and loans than non-parents (Nelson,

2013). Nelson states that sixty two percent of single student parents have an expected family

contribution of zero, in comparison to twenty percent of non-parents and eighteen percent of

married parents. Student parents are more than likely to receive federal tuition assistance with
Pell Grants. Despite the assistance of Pell Grants the financial need of student parents is still

unmet. Student parents have left college due to the lack of financial assistance. Also, student

parents not only leave without a degree but are in deep debt. Student parents leave education

with more debt than non-student parents (Nelson, 2013). They are also more than likely to enroll

in for-profit institutions which bring on more educational debt. Student parents make up nearly

half of the enrollment at for-profit institutions (Nelson, 2013). The reason behind student parents

enrolling in for-profit institutions is because they believe they will be done quicker than at a non-

profit institution, it is a common thought that many partake in when enrolling in for-profit

institutions.

Sense of belonging and creating space for student parents is crucial in any college

campus as well. Currently we are accommodating several different student groups on campus

settings, but we also need to try and make some efforts for student parents. Colleges students are

diverse and come in many shapes and forms. At this time there have been institutions that

created rooms in their libraries for student parents, that allow their children in (Moore, 2020).

Some progress is in the making with campus support efforts for student parents. We are aware

that universities can create and implement policies and programs to accommodate specific

subgroups of students (Springer, 2009). Springer suggests that there are other concrete ways that

institutions can do to support student parents, that may include parental leave, extending

academic deadlines and providing subsidized childcare. Efforts to create a family friendly

university culture for student parents is also crucial (Springer, 2009). A family friendly culture

can include orientations that allow children, rooms or spaces for family and the inclusion of

student parents role of a parent. Being able to acknowledge and validate a student’s role as a
parent is important and the first step to providing space. This approach would make student

parents feel comfortable.

As I mentioned earlier another form of support for student parents is extension of

deadlines and part-time options. This approach demonstrates the idea of creating space for

students that have the parent role. For example, mothers who have just gave birth are given

extensions on deadlines. Extensions on deadlines is able to offer extra time for parents to adjust

and get situated to the newborn life. Life can be hectic with a newborn and with an opportunity

to complete assignments on extensions is a great way to accommodate a student parent, for

starters. No such policy specifically for student parents, where a university offers part-time

enrollment, can be an idea to offer this student group in order to fulfill their graduate coursework

in their timing (Springer, 2009). This can be a positive alternative for student parents not being

able to enroll full time or return to school full time. Also, another idea is providing a parent

resource center. These can all be positive efforts in creating space for student parents whom feel

that they are out of place on a college setting. Perhaps providing essential areas such as lactation

rooms is another form of creating space, specifically for mothers.

Departments providing family friendly efforts would be another approach for inclusion

on student parents. The norms and culture of individual departments may also be consequential

for the success or failure of their student parents (Moore, 2020). Each department can work on

creating their own specific strategies to best fit student parent implementations for the

department, rather than by the university (Springer, 2009). As a parent it can be nerve wrecking

approaching an area where there are no other parents or individuals that can relate to you. At

times parents have no other choice but to take their child or children with them. But with

implementations such as childcare or strategies that involve strictly working with student
parents, can reduce those feelings. Departments that also offer a family friendly space or room

can help improve on reducing those feelings as well.

Furthermore, into department implementations, we can think of department chair and

faculty trainings with this group. Or somehow think of ways to provide space for student parents

for when faculty finds these types of students enrolled in their program. In doing so faculty can

offer those efforts during orientation, conferences or department meetings. Ensuring that there is

no discrimination within their students and providing the most applicable efforts for their

students. Faculty can also play the role of mentoring or advising student parents. Positive and

accurate mentoring is ideal in any student’s success. As a faculty member or advisor trying to

approach parent students in efforts to make the student comfortable is necessary. It must be noted

that student parents do not approach or reach out for any assistance during their college journey.

By being able to demonstrate and show support is the start of creating success in recognizing

student parents. Making space for college student parents is evolving and the numbers of those

students are growing and shifting to be a norm now. Changes are always occurring onto

universities but considering each student group is the challenge.

Conclusion

Currently the system poorly serves nontraditional students, specifically student parents,

which presents serious ramifications to the postsecondary success of these students. Implications

of practice must include the parent role in postsecondary institutions involving a greater focus

from the higher education reform community. It is necessary when involving reform in an

institution we must put focus on student parents and validating their existence as not only a

student but as a parent. Validating all student parents and their outside role of being a student.

Not much data and research are gathered from higher education institutions. Student parents are
often an overlooked population in higher education and deserve more (Salle, 2015). This group is

often overlooked because again they are the nontraditional student.

It is vital for higher education’s system of success to be able to include parent students, in

order to have opportunities to attain a graduate degree or to act on a career change, being a

parent or not. Being a parent should not be a setback when trying to complete a college degree.

The advances that come from higher education offers strong labor market benefits. Which

includes increased wages and lower rates of employment. Offering the support to student parents

will help increase professionals in society. I believe that any driven individual deserves that fair

shot of having a place in higher education. Additionally, it adds more income and stable

employment onto the student parent. Being able to stand on your own and provide for your child

or children is a rewarding feeling, I can speak for myself.

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