New report highlights three-year effort to support student parents

Of the roughly 22 million undergraduate students who are parents, nearly half (42%) attend community colleges. Student parents — particularly single mothers — are more likely to experience basic needs insecurity (from housing to childcare). They experience higher rates of poverty and are more likely to come from racially marginalized communities. The data makes it clear that supporting student mothers is a racial and economic equity imperative.

From 2020 to 2022, the College Success for Single Mothers Project has worked with eight community colleges to help build their capacity to identify and address the needs of parenting students — with particular attention to single mothers. With funding from ECMC Foundation, the project was led by World Education’s National College Transition Network (NCTN) in partnership with Achieving the Dream (ATD) and PERG Learning.

Transforming Data into Action: Fostering College Success for Single Mothers and Parenting Students is a culminating report that highlights the accomplishments of the eight participating colleges, showing how each institution is taking steps to increase success for student parents. The authors, including ATD’s director of network relations Meredith Archer Hatch, analyzed what made these colleges successful to contribute practical guidance to a limited body of research in the hope of improving access, success, and equity for parenting students.

“This work contributes to ATD’s efforts to increase racial and economic equity for community college students and their families,” Hatch said. “It also furthers the Community College Women Succeed Advisory Group’s research agenda by helping colleges increase their understanding of the needs of student parents, expand data use to better serve this population, and ultimately advance equitable access to higher education.”

Key Takeaways

• Increase the visibility of student parents to help them feel a greater sense of belonging and support on campus.
• Improve available supports and help student parents access them through communication and outreach.
• Create family-friendly spaces and events to better include student parents and meet their needs.
• Create community for parenting students who want to connect to each other.
• Review institutional policies with parenting students in mind.
• Improve data systems with a systematic approach to identifying parenting students and their needs.