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College students with children account for a quarter of all undergraduates but are a population that remains understudied and often underrepresented on campus. Despite having much to offer the classroom and workforce, student parents are less likely to complete their college degree, given the unique set of barriers they face in managing their families and their education.
In a paper published in the Journal of American College Health, Assistant Professor Meredith Manze, along with Distinguished Professor Nick Freudenberg and doctoral alum Dana Watnick, analyzed 2018 Healthy CUNY survey data of undergraduate CUNY students with children. They found that almost a third of student parents reported childcare interfering with college. This interference was associated with reports of needing mental health treatment, worrying about running out of food, and experiencing housing problems.
“Childcare is one key barrier to college completion, but it’s one of many. By offering services to support mental health and food and housing security, CUNY can help college students navigate the challenges inherent to being a student parent,” says Dr. Manze. The team plans to continue investigating how to better support student parents’ health and academic achievement.
