Supporting America’s Student Parents
One-fifth of college students are parents. That’s more than three million undergraduates balancing classes, homework, jobs, and caregiving to build better futures. But higher education wasn’t designed for them, and it shows: student parents are far less likely to complete their degrees than peers without children. Parents pursuing postsecondary education and training face multiple challenges.…
Read More101: Single Moms in Higher Education
We met Kimberly Salazar, a single mother of a 5-year-old, last year during Higher Learning Advocates’ National Student Parent Month Fireside Chat. A first-generation student at University of California, Berkeley, and 4.0 GPA sociology major, Salazar was accepted into her school’s honors program for seniors. She also represents one of the nine in…
Read More#SupportStudentParents Student Videos
To learn more about the barriers that student parents face and the policy changes that could better support them, check out these videos from two student parents:
Read MoreThe Playbook for Today’s Students
Higher learning is the ticket to economic opportunity for Americans, as well as to rebuilding our country’s economy. But we are failing too many of today’s students. Fewer than 67% of Americans enter a higher education program, and of those, only 60 percent finish with a credential. A large-scale overhaul of higher education policy is…
Read MorePolicy Brief: Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to Include Student Caregivers
Access to affordable child care is crucial for families: In 2010, fewer than one-third of children had a full-time stay at home parent, and the majority of children under five received child care from someone other than a parent. At the same time, data from the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) show…
Read MoreFact Sheet on Student Caregivers
Research on student parents and their unique challenges commissioned by Higher Learning Advocates. Nearly a quarter of today’s students are parents, and they have unique time constraints because they must balance caregiving, school work, and employment. Student parents are more likely to be older, more likely to have a low-income, and more likely to work…
Read MoreHigher Learning Advocates Submits FY21 Priorities to House LHHS Committee
WASHINGTON (March 23, 2020) — Today, Higher Learning Advocates submitted testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee addressing funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Education for FY 2021. Higher Learning Advocates urged the subcommittee to make significant investments…
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