Fifteen percent of women in college have children. So do eight percent of men. An estimated 300,000 college students are also parents, and their stories often go unheard.
Many more parents are hoping to go to college for the first time: According to California Competes and the California Alliance for Student Parent Success, there are 3.9 million Californian adults who have a high school degree but no college diploma, with dependent children.
This year, the California State Assembly made September Student Parent Month, to bring much needed attention to the stories, struggles, and successes that California’s student parents can have with the higher education system.
Supporting student parents is a way of supporting California’s economic future. “Since parental education level has been linked to the academic and economic success of their children,” the State Assembly’s declaration says, “increasing the educational attainment level of the state’s 400,000 student parents will have a multiplier effect on their more than 530,000 children.”
The struggle student parents face is real, and support from higher education institutions can make all the difference. “Student parents tend to have higher grade point averages than their peers, yet fewer than 40 percent acquire a degree or credential within six years — highlighting the need for college and state investments and targeted resources for this student population.”
Organizations like California Competes are developing new approaches to support college access and success for adults. That includes initiatives like on-campus childcare and enhancing data on what makes student parents successful in their academic careers.
One approach that has already been found to be successful for student parents is the Calbright model, combining flexible, career focused, online education with a Competency-Based Education approach. At Calbright, students can take career-focused online courses on their own schedule, whether that’s on breaks at work or after their children are asleep at night. They can take courses wherever they are. And Calbright provides laptops and wifi hotspots if students need them. Student parents can take as long as they need – students learn at their own pace, with no penalty. And they can take courses for free, since Calbright is currently free for Californians.
The Calbright model eliminates barriers to access in education, and student parents say the Calbright model works for them. That’s why 21% of Calbright students are parents or caregivers, compared to only about 10% across the California Community Colleges system.
And Calbright is continuing to find new ways to support student parents, like its basic needs research, designed to make sure students are aware of the state benefits and supports they’re entitled to, and provides help accessing them. These basic need benefits, including food, housing, and health care support can be vitally important to helping student parents complete their educations and support their families.
More is needed, but the success of Calbright is a big step in supporting student parents, one that will ripple out to both their children and California’s economic future.
