Tessa Holtzman

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So far Tessa Holtzman has created 11 blog entries.

Leveraging Head Start for Student Parent Families

Student parents face significant challenges that can limit their ability to enter, persist in, and graduate from college. Innovative partnerships between Head Start and the higher education system is a promising strategy to bring together essential supports to meet the needs of student parents and set them up for long-term success. This briefing paper explores what this partnership might look like, and how federal and state policy could encourage greater support for student parents and their families through Head Start.

Child Care Access for Student Parents in Oregon: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Educational and Economic Success

Access to affordable, safe, and reliable child care is essential to the ability of college students with children to pursue higher education. In Oregon, systemic challenges within the state’s child care and early learning system can make it difficult for student parents to find and pay for the care they need. This report describes findings from a study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research to describe the landscape of child care..

Understanding the Student Parent Experience: The Need for Improved Data Collection on Parent Status in Higher Education

Data on students’ parent status would help campuses, higher education systems, and policymakers assess needs, target supports and services, understand student outcomes, and measure what works to promote student parent enrollment, persistence, and completion.

Head Start College Partnership to Promote Student Parent Family Success: A Roadmap for Collaboration

Collaboration between colleges and Head Start programs holds promise for promoting the educational and economic well-being of college students with young children.

Prioritizing Student Parents in COVID-19 Response and Relief

Nearly four million U.S. undergraduate college students are parents or guardians of children under the age of 18. These student parents, who already faced immense financial, child care, food, and housing insecurity before the COVID-19 pandemic, are now dealing with multiple new barriers, including school closures, lay-offs, and child care disruptions, among other challenges.

Student Parents in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Heightened Need and the Imperative for Strengthened Support

Nearly four million undergraduates, or more than one in five college students, are parents of children under 18. These student parents face—in normal times— disproportionate economic insecurity, difficulty meeting basic needs, and significant time and caregiving demands. Yet, in spite of these challenges, they are also incredibly resilient.

By Lindsey Reichlin Cruse, Susana Contreras-Mendez and Tessa Holtzman|2021-12-03T15:14:49-05:00April 15, 2020|Fact Sheet, Student Parent Success Initiative|Comments Off on Student Parents in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Heightened Need and the Imperative for Strengthened Support

Investing in Single Mothers’ Higher Education

Earning a higher education is increasingly necessary for achieving family economic security. For single mothers, who are more likely to live in poverty than other women, earning postsecondary credentials can bring substantial benefits, from increased lifetime earnings and employment rates to better health outcomes and chances of success for their children.

By Lindsey Reichlin Cruse, Jessica Milli, Susana Contreras-Mendez, Tessa Holtzman and Barbara Gault|2021-01-27T06:04:03-05:00December 18, 2019|Report, Student Parent Success Initiative|Comments Off on Investing in Single Mothers’ Higher Education

Reproductive Health and Community College Students: Building Momentum toward Holistic Approaches to Student Success

by Tessa Holtzman, Anna Bernstein, and Lindsey Reichlin Cruse On [...]

By Tessa Holtzman, Anna Bernstein and Lindsey Reichlin Cruse|2020-08-11T09:38:33-05:00November 4, 2019|In the Lead|0 Comments

Head Start-College Partnerships as a Strategy for Promoting Family Economic Success: A Study of Benefits, Challenges, and Promising Programs

DOWNLOAD REPORT Introduction and Summary Improving family economic [...]