Undergraduate Student Parents

Undergraduate Student parents Kate Johnson University of Southern California Dr. Tracy Tambascia EDHP 563

Undergraduate Student Parents Undergraduate student parents are almost a quarter of the undergraduate, fouryear, student population, yet most campuses do not know the percentage of this

demographic at their specific institution. The Department of Education studied the reason for a decrease in student retention and found that 53% of the students reported family responsibilities as their main reason for leaving college. Student parents are faced with internal pressures to maintain academic responsibilities as well as family responsibilities that lead to a decrease in motivation to continue their education. Whether the undergraduate student parent is an incoming freshman, a current student that becomes pregnant, or a transfer student, this population has very limited resources within the university structure to meet their needs for academic success. The Department of Education discovered that in 2010, 23% of the undergraduate student population had dependant children. Although the national percentage of undergraduate parents with dependents is known, individual universities are unaware of their own percentage of student parent population. Institutions focus their student demographic research on the percentage of race, test scores, and income, in an attempt to show the diversity of the institution, however family is overlooked in these statistics. The Chronicle of Higher Education analyzed the incoming freshman class of 2010 to study habits, family income, political views, and other factors to characterize the incoming class, but none included identifying students with dependent children. Student parents are unable to fully integrate into the university system due their invisible presence in the college campus.

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In 2002, the National Center for Education and Statistics reported that Although 47% of single parents aspired to earn a bachelors degree only 7% were successful. One of the main causes for a lack in student parent retention comes from pressures instilled by the institution. Resources within the institution are not provided for students who become parents during their time as an undergraduate. Student parents have the option of receiving counseling at most universities, however, additional services for academic support and campus inclusion is scarce in the college environment. In 2003, the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine discovered 3.5% of college students experienced an unintended pregnancy. For individuals that have an unexpected pregnancy, The women expressed a culture of isolation stemming from faculty and staff exchanges, there is a damaging notion that victimizes the women rather than supports them or creates impetus to change the systemic barriers (Sorensen, 2012). Students experiencing a pregnancy during their collegiate years become isolated in their lack of campus integration. Campus clubs and organizations are scarce for student parents to become involved in, especially when meetings for these organizations are after childcare hours. The student programming fees are allocated to events for the majority student population and neglect to include parents in programming, Either events were not child friendly or the parents were not comfortable putting their children in an environment full of 18- to 21-year-old nonparent students. In the end, one woman expressed the shared feeling that they would love to be able

Undergraduate Student Parents to do more campus activities, but its just not possible because its not presented. Its not an option (Kasworm, 2010). Unintended pregnancy has become an overwhelming barrier specifically for undergraduate student athletes that are required to sign contracts agreeing to not become pregnant during their time as an athlete. In 2007, two-college freshman were discovered to have killed their newborn children in their dorm in fear of loosing their university scholarship (Sorensen, 2012). Undergraduate parents should not live in fear from the university but rather seek out support and resources from the institution during a time of need. Yakabowski (2010) attributes the decline in student parent success to the institutional barriers in place for undergraduate student parents. She suggests that

universities are unaware of their lack of accommodation for the needs of student parents. Although many institutions have provided childcare for its students and staff, the childcare hours do not coincide with class schedules. According to Yakaboski (2010) the childcare at many universities close at 5pm but classes do not end until 5:15pm. Single parents are particularly, Limited on there networks with other students and have limited time to make trusting relationships with neighbors to take care of their children during class (Sorensen, 2012). With student parents being unable to find proper childcare many students are forced to skip class or leave early (Yakabowski, 2010). The various types of academic institutions will lead to controversy for the inclusion of student parents. Religious institutions specifically have codes of conduct that do not allow for the inclusion of student parents (Citation). Incoming freshman sign

Undergraduate Student Parents these contracts agreeing to not participate in sexual activities during their time as an unwed college student. For the students that becomes pregnant directly violates the code of conduct and the university is entitled to expel the student for not staying within good standards of the code. Religious institutions have every right to uphold and enforce their own code of conduct, however, further research is missing as to the consequences of expelling a pregnant single mother who are, according to the Department of Education, more likely to have low incomes and a higher need for additional assistance from the government. Current statistics are missing on the amount of admitted student parents for the various types of institutions; however, student parents have been increasing in numbers, according to the Department of Education. As these numbers have been increasing the number of resources, assistance, and accommodations are scarce within the university system at a national level. Future research is needed on the number of student parents at each type of institution across the nation in order to have a proper assessment for the allocation of resources at each type of institution. Assistance and resources will look differently at the various colleges and may remain to be non-existent at certain religious

institutions, however, representation for this invisible population is key to gain awareness and support in addressing student parents needs on a national level.

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