Student Parent Success Initative

Underwater: Student Mothers and Fathers Struggle to Support Their Families and Pay Off College Loans

IWPR conducted original research on an often-overlooked group of [...]

All In Together: The Role of The Family Resource Center In Achieving Student Parent Success at Los Angeles Valley College

This fact sheet utilizes survey data and focus group [...]

Supporting Student Parent Recovery through State Policy

Higher education is essential to accessing high-demand jobs with family-supporting wages and improving family financial well-being. This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic and is especially true now as the nation continues the process of recovering from one of the worst public health, economic, and social crises in modern U.S. history. Early evidence suggests that the pandemic exacerbated barriers faced by student parents, affecting their college plans.

Evaluating the Role of Campus Child Care in Student Parent Success

To ensure student parents are wholly supported in their educational pathways, research is needed to understand the connection between quality, affordable child care and student parents’ academic outcomes. Yet several challenges persist that make rigorous study of this connection difficult. Drawing on interviews with campus child care directors and a review of data and relevant literature, this brief presents a snapshot of the availability and importance of campus child care services for student parent success. It concludes with recommendations to improve conditions for rigorous research on the role of campus child care in the outcomes of college students with children.

“The Pandemic Was Not Going to Stop Me”: A Student Parent Reflects on Struggles, and Success, during COVID

This guest blog post is authored by Jessica Vera, a [...]

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

Collaboration between colleges and Head Start programs holds promise for promoting the educational and economic well-being of college students with young children. Roughly one million undergraduate student parents with children under age six are income-eligible for Head Start, and their ability to complete their educational programs is linked to their access to affordable sources of early care and learning for their children. [...]