Higher Education and Student Parent Supports: Barriers, Challenges, and Opportunities

Nonprofit Generation Hope launches new report

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Nov 09, 2021, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Student parent advocacy nonprofit Generation Hope released a report today amplifying the voices of both parenting students in college and higher education leadership to identify the institutional challenges and solutions for student parent success.

The report, "Higher Education and Student Parent Supports" presents the findings from four focus group sessions held with student parents, philanthropy, and higher education representatives, including college presidents, professors, and administrative staff, from across the United States. These conversations helped to inform the programming and supports provided by Generation Hope's new technical assistance program called FamilyU, which includes a two-year cohort for higher education institutions to enhance their student parent work. The report identifies the top three barriers to student parent success in college from the perspectives of both higher ed leaders and student parents themselves.

Higher Education Leaders Listed

Lack of data collection
Lack of financial and staff capacity
No campus-wide policies mandating student parent supports

Student Parents Listed

Low awareness of resources for parenting students
Lack of childcare
Unreceptive campus culture

"Our focus groups provided valuable insights on the most challenging aspects of this work from the perspectives of parenting college students and higher education professionals," says Generation Hope founder and CEO, Nicole Lynn Lewis. "These findings are not only helpful to Generation Hope in how we craft our higher education supports but to anyone who is committed to creating better outcomes for student parents."

In addition to elaborating on these barriers, the report also includes recommendations and next steps for colleges and universities to take in order to better support their parenting students.

Recommendations identified by focus group participants include:

Engage in opportunities to shift campus culture
Dedicate resources to support student parents
Create a culture of belonging
Offer flexibility
Recognize that student parent work is racial justice work

Links to learn more:

Learn about FamilyU
Read the full report.

Media Contact:
Devon Haynes
202-897-4527
[email protected]

Generation Hope
To ensure all student parents have the opportunities to succeed and experience economic mobility, Generation Hope engages education and policy partners to drive systemic change and provides direct support to teen parents in college as well as their children through holistic, two-generation programming. Fewer than 2% of teen mothers will earn their college degrees before they are 30 years old, but Generation Hope Scholars graduate at a rate that exceeds the national average for all college students, is almost two times the rate of low-income college students, and is almost eight times the rate of single mothers nationwide. Generation Hope engages in local and national advocacy work, amplifying the student-parent voice and centering their experiences. Additionally, Generation Hope leverages its data and best practices to serve as a thought partner, providing colleges with the tools, resources, and support that they need to implement programs, adjust policies, and change structures and culture to improve outcomes for student parents. Learn more: www.generationhope.org/

SOURCE Generation Hope