Supporting Student Parent Success in College Barbara Gault, Ph.D. Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Education brings earnings gains (but Women Make Less than Men at All Education Levels) Source: IWPR analysis of Ruggles et al Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 5.0.

The Share of Students with Dependent Children is Highest at Community and For-Profit Colleges Source: IWPR analysis of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.

Women of Color are Most Likely to be Balancing College and Parenthood Source: IWPR Analysis of 2012 National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.

Student Parents are Highly Motivated by Their Children (MS) Source: IWPR Survey of Women in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Hess et al Securing a Better Future: A Portrait of Female Students in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

“The choice to attend college is my way of showing my son how important education is and what one can accomplish when they put their mind to it. Actions speak louder than words. I choose to lead by example.” - Participant in the IWPR Survey of Mississippi Community Colleges Source: IWPR Survey of Women in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Hess et al Securing a Better Future: A Portrait of Female Students in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Student Parent Challenges Have more difficulty affording basic necessities than other students (76% in have difficulty affording basic living expenses) Leave school with 10% more debt than other independent students* 60% work 30+ hours per week 30% more likely than other students to have taken time off Sources: IWPR Survey of Women in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Hess et al Securing a Better Future: A Portrait of Female Students in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. *Gault et al. 2014, College Affordability for Low Income Adults

Money & Balancing School, Work, & Family are Major Sources of Stress for Student Parents (MS) Source: IWPR Survey of Women in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Hess et al Securing a Better Future: A Portrait of Female Students in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

“Hopefully I will be able to keep the stress under control to complete my degrees to advance in my work, so I can better provide for my family as a single parent and show my children they can do whatever they set their mind to.” - Participant in the IWPR Survey of Mississippi Community Colleges Source: IWPR Survey of Women in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Hess et al Securing a Better Future: A Portrait of Female Students in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Students with Children are Less Likely to Complete College Source: IWPR analysis of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:04/09).

Campus Child Care on the Decline in the United States Source: IWPR calculations, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

Relative Care Three Times As Likely As Any Other Form of Child Care; Campus Care Uncommon (MS) Source: IWPR Survey of Women in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Hess et al Securing a Better Future: A Portrait of Female Students in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Student Parents Need Child Care Help (MS) Moms with children under 10: – Cannot get the kind of quality child care they want because it is too expensive (47%) – Find paying for child care difficult (53%) – List financial assistance or child care subsidies as one of the top 3 desired supports (55%) Source: IWPR Survey of Women in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Hess et al Securing a Better Future: A Portrait of Female Students in Mississippi’s Community Colleges. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Student Parents Need and Array of Supports to Help Them Succeed in College Source: Shumacher, Rachel Prepping Colleges for Parents: Strategies for Supporting Student Parent Success in Postsecondary Education. IWPR Working Paper.

Five Most Common Associate’s Degrees for Women & Men by Race/Ethnicity ASSOCIATE’S DEGREES AWARDED IN: STEMNon-STEM Engineer- ing Techno- logies/ Techni- cians Computer & Informa- tion Sciences & Support Services Liberal Arts & Sciences, General Studies, Humani- ties Business, Manage- ment, Marketing, Related Support Services Health Profes- sions & Related Clinical Sciences Secur- ity & Pro- tective Services Educa- tion Multi/ Interdi- sciplin-ary Studies Visual & Perfor- ming Arts MEN White  Asian  Black  Latino  WOMEN White  Asian   Black  Latina   Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2009, Completions component.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research th Street NW, Suite 301 Washington, DC For more information: Follow IWPR on social media: search