College Students with Children Are Common and Face Many Challenges in Completing Higher Education. Briefing Paper #C404

This paper discusses the challenges college students with children face, as well as the steps colleges, universities, and the surrounding communities must take to help students succeed in their work as both students and parents. The role of parenthood in postsecondary settings needs greater focus from the higher education reform community. Unless the care-giving responsibilities of low-income adults are actively acknowledged and addressed, efforts to improve postsecondary access and completion for low-income adults--be they through online learning, improved on-ramps, developmental education, institutional accountability, financial aid, or curriculum reform--are likely to fall short of their full potential for change. Some colleges have recognized the needs of student parents by providing them with additional resources, like campus child care centers, benefits access services, housing opportunities, referral programs and scholarships. These promising efforts should be replicated and expanded, and federal funding for programs such as the U.S. Department of Education's Child Care Means Parents In School Program, and the Pregnancy Assistance Fund, should be strengthened and expanded. In addition, more states should use the flexibility within Perkins Workforce Development Grants to expand supports for students who are raising children while they seek to expand their credentials.