46. Support student parents and their access to public benefits.

Finance 09.6.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • Congress should appropriate federal funding to support student parents to cover the cost of tuition, fees, housing, food, books, transportation, childcare, and other expenses that are critical to help them stay in school.

Here’s what state government can do:

  • State legislatures should develop stronger partnerships between higher education institutions and social services offices to simplify the process and provide pre-eligibility to student parents for public benefits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), TANF, WIC, SNAP, and childcare subsidies.
  • State legislatures should provide higher education institutions with clear guidance on the state public benefits eligibility rules and application process.

Here’s what institutional leaders can do:

  • Each semester, higher education institutions should reach out to student parents about their potential benefit eligibility for program such as the EITC, TANF, WIC, SNAP, and childcare subsidies.
  • Higher education institutions should support student parents to cover the cost of tuition, fees, housing, food, books, transportation, childcare, and other expenses that are critical to help them stay in school.

Policymakers should seek to address the “student parent affordability gap,” which represents the major financial barriers student parents face, including the cost of childcare, tuition, fees, housing, food, books and supplies, transportation, and other expenses that are incurred in the pursuit of a higher education.

Almost one quarter of all undergraduate students are parents. These students earn higher grade point averages (GPAs) than their non-parenting students[i] but are less likely to graduate.[ii] Student parents work hard to ensure a life of opportunities for themselves and their families. Research shows that student parents need to work an average of 52 hours per week to cover childcare and tuition costs at four-year public institutions in the United States.[iii] Higher education institutions can do more to help student parents succeed.

The student parent affordability gap is the average amount that a student parent with lower income would pay annually to pursue a degree at a two- or four-year public college in each state, plus the average costs of childcare, minus grants, scholarships, and earnings from working 10 hours per week at the state minimum wage.” [i][iv]

Students must have the power to make their own decisions about reproduction, including matters associated with contraceptive use, pregnancy, and childbearing. For more information and resources, see the National Women’s Law Center.

[i] “Parents in College by the Numbers,” Institute for Women’s Policy Research. https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/C481_Parents-in-College-By-the-Numbers-Aspen-Ascend-and-IWPR.pdf.

[ii] “Higher Education Can Support Parenting Students and Their Children with Accessible, Equitable Services – Child Trends,” ChildTrends. https://childtrends.org/publications/higher-education-support-parenting-students-and-their-children-with-accessible-equitable-services.

[iii]Williams, Brittani; Bitar, Jinann; Polk, Portia; Nguyen, Andre; Montague, Gabriel; Gillispie, Carrie; Waller, Antoinett; Tadesse, Azeb; & Elliott, Kayla “For Student Parents, the Biggest Hurdles to a Higher Education Are Costs and Finding Child Care,” The Education Trust, September 11, 2023. https://edtrust.org/resource/for-student-parents-the-biggest-hurdles-to-a-higher-education-are-costs-and-finding-child-care/#:~:text=The%20Student%20Parent%20Affordability%20Gap%20is%20the%20average%20amount%20that,hours%20per%20week%20at%20the.

[iv]Ibid.