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In honor of National Student Parent Month, we’re putting out an extra edition of the SPARK newsletter!
First, congratulations to Today’s Student Coalition for their efforts that successfully got the National Student Parent Month Resolution passed in the Senate! |
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From Generation Hope: Submit to the HOPE 2025 Conference BY TODAY (deadline September 27) Generation Hope is planning for their second annual HOPE convening in National Harbor, MD, April 9-11, 2025. HOPE is designed to bring together student parents, education leaders, policymakers, nonprofit professionals, and philanthropists from across the country to work together to accelerate economic mobility for families. By helping to create strong connections among change-makers, HOPE serves as a place for new and brave thinking around the practices, organizations, policies, and systems that need to shift to help families thrive. The deadline for submissions for the 2025 event has been extended through September 27 – submit here. |
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From the SPARK Collaborative: SPARK Opening Event THIS MONDAY (web event September 30) The SPARK Collaborative is opening its doors, and you’re invited! Learn about the resources we’re offering, including a website, online community space, and resource library – and learn how you can get involved! Also, be the first to see new insights on student-parent characteristics from the latest data (and learn how to access the data yourself!). The online event is Monday, September 30, 2024 from 1:30-3:00 Eastern/10:30-12:00 Pacific – register here! |
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From the California Alliance for Student Parent Success: From Insight to Action: Enhancing Data for Student Parent Success (webinar October 1) Discover how transforming data practices can unlock new opportunities for student parents. Join a webinar on Tuesday, October 1 from 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern/11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific to learn about new research from The California Alliance for Student Parent Success. The session will explore key findings and strategies for enhancing data practices to better support student parents and their families. |
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From CERII in the UK: Bridging the Gap: U.S. HE's Support and Neglect of Student-Parents (webinar October 3) The Centre for Education Research on Identities and Inequalities (CERII) at Anglia Ruskin University will host Margaret W. Sallee, Professor of Higher Education at the University at Buffalo, for a talk titled Bridging the Gap: U.S. Higher Education’s Support and Neglect of Student-Parents. Listen in on October 3, from 7:30-9:00 AM Eastern/4:30-6:00 AM Pacific (yes, early here in the States!). |
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From Achieving the Dream: Submit to DREAM 2025 (deadline October 7) Achieving the Dream is seeking proposals for sessions to be presented at DREAM 2025, which will take place February 18-21, 2025, in Philadelphia, PA. DREAM is an annual convening that brings together leaders and practitioners from more than 300 colleges to exchange evidence-based strategies that transform higher education. As a presenter, you will have the opportunity to share your institution’s ideas, innovations, and success stories with thousands of your peers. Proposals are due October 7, 2024 – submit here! |
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From the Northeastern Educational Research Association: Perspectives on Student Parents Panel (presentation October 9) If you are at the Northeastern Educational Research Association conference in Trumbull, CT, check out the panel at 3:00 PM Wednesday, October 9, “Perspectives on Student Parents.” This will be a conversation on supporting parenting students in higher education, featuring a panel of national experts who offer strategies to create family-friendly campuses that provide better support systems. Speakers include Dr. Brittani Williams, a former parenting student and Director of Advocacy, Policy, and Research at Generation Hope; Miriam Cullimore, Student-Parent and Family Coordinator at Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education; and Megan Brown, current parenting student and neuroscience major at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Haley Myers Dillon, Assistant Vice President for Retention Programs & Cultural Academic Resource Centers at California State University, Sacramento. |
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Insights and Resources from the Field |
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From Congress: New CCAMPIS Legislation Introduced On September 12, members of the US House of Representatives introduced the CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act. This bill proposes increasing Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) funding and makes the program no longer subject to political negotiations. It has been referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Though it will likely not pass is this Congress, it is a start of a discussion for the next legislative session. |
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From the California Alliance for Student Parent Success: Juggling Roles and Achieving Goals: The California Student Parents Almanac Approximately 300,000 undergraduate student parents in California grapple with significant challenges in a higher education system that has historically overlooked their needs and experiences. The California Alliance for Student Parent Success (The Alliance) recognizes that fostering the academic success of student parents—a strong predictor of their children’s educational outcomes—can create a ripple effect that improves the wellbeing of multiple generations, shrinks racial equity gaps, and strengthens California’s economy. This publication aims to inform policymakers and advocates, drive collective action, and advance policy changes that will unlock the full potential of student parents and their families. |
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From the California Alliance for Student Parent Success: Making the Invisible Visible: Taking Stock of How the California State University Collects and Uses Data About Parenting Students Parenting students are neither a small fraction of our state’s undergraduates nor a niche, special interest group—and that’s very much true at the California State University (CSU). The fact that the majority of this population are students of color, women, and/or first-generation college students means that ensuring parenting students have the support to attain their degree is both an equity imperative and a necessity if the state wishes to build the skilled workforce needed to cultivate a thriving economy. Yet in the CSU, parenting students are too often rendered nearly invisible because neither individual colleges nor the systems as a whole systematically collects data on parenting student demographics, experiences, and outcomes. This report finds a growing recognition of the importance of data to parenting student success, as well as many remaining barriers and much progress to be made. Those findings are paired with promising campus practices and specific recommendations for CSU campuses, the Chancellor’s Office, and higher education policymakers. |
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From Cal Poly SLO: Students with Dependents Housing Needs Report The Students with Dependents Program at Cal Poly recognizes systemic barriers that are at play and affect students with dependents ability to find stable, affordable and safe housing near campus. This report provides demographic data on Cal Poly SLO's students with dependents, a brief history of the institution's family housing, findings around the housing needs of students with dependents and future recommendations for the university to pursue We believe that family housing at Cal Poly SLO is vital and possible (again), and this report is designed to propel efforts into a tangible resource for students with dependents. |
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From California State University: Study of Student Service Access and Basic Needs Findings from survey, interview, and focus group data show an urgent need to provide resources serving students' basic needs and facilitate linkages across these resources. This report, which has a section dedicated to student parents, reflects the system office’s efforts to better meet those needs for CSU students. It is the latest in a series of studies CSU has conducted on these issues. |
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From Sacramento State: Pregnancy Navigation Page See how Sac State is helping pregnant students navigate the resources available to them and learn about their rights! |
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From Common App: Supporting parents in college from application onward In honor of Student Parent Month, Common App hosted a webinar featuring a panel discussion with Dr. Theresa Anderson, Principal Research Associate at Urban Institute; Dr. Brittani Williams, Director of Advocacy Policy & Research at Generation Hope; and Dr. Joisanne Rodgers, Director of Contemporary Services at George Mason University, a Common App member. The webinar highlighted their work advocating for student parents in higher education. The panel, led by Batanya Gipson of Common App, discussed the need for data on parenting students. They explored how members can use that data to support their students and how Common App can help. This blog post summarizes and includes a link to watch a recording of the session. |
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From New America: Student Parents and Their Mental Health 1 out of every 5 college students is a parent. Nina Owolabi and Ewaoluwa Obatuase write about how working on a degree while parenting, working, and managing a household is immensely challenging, as a result, parenting student's mental health is suffering and they need more support. |
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From ACE: Innovation Lab on Building Institutional Capacity to Facilitate Student-Parent Success and Social and Economic Mobility The American Council on Education hosted an Innovation Lab on September 9-10 where 34 student-parent policy leaders and students themselves explored innovative strategies that would increase student-parent academic success.
The final prototypes included: State and federal data collection bills: Collect more complete data about the student-parent population’s size, composition, and persistence to more accurately represent student parents’ voices and concerns. Resource centers: Set up family resource centers on campuses that have supplies and spaces for parenting students as well as staff who can connect student parents to additional resources. On-campus childcare/CCAMPIS funding: Establish childcare centers on campuses and double funding for Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) so institutions without these centers can provide students subsidies for childcare. Title III: Amend Title III of the Higher Education Act to designate federal grant funding for institutions that serve student parents. National student-parent coalition: Unite advocates for student parents through a national organization with local chapters to facilitate lobbying and activism. Scheduling for student-parent success: Increase flexibility of academic schedules, including offering courses at various times of day and in multiple modalities, reserving preferred registration slots for student-parents, and instituting annual schedules and registration so students don’t have to alter their work schedules each semester.
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Student Parents in the Media |
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From Inside Higher Ed: Necessity Is the Mother of Innovation Our current sociopolitical environment brings new urgency to the need to better support students who are single mothers, Aimée Myers writes. |
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From Education Insights Center: Why Student Parent Success Matters for California “Throughout most of my higher education career, I wore an invisible identity — an identity that I rarely disclosed to my peers or professors: I was a parent,” writes Maya Valree, now a policy analyst at The Education Trust-West. |
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From Generation Hope: Generation Hope Expands Mission to Texas with New Scholar Program in Dallas Generation Hope, a nonprofit providing direct support and national advocacy for student parents in college, is expanding its innovative Scholar Program to provide direct service to teen parents in college in Dallas, TX. This marks the organization’s third site, building on the trailblazing success of its programs in the Washington, DC region and Greater New Orleans area. |
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Are you having issues identifying or reaching out to student parents at your college because of the FAFSA changes? As this blog post describes, the new financial aid forms may make it harder to identify independent students with dependent children. If you work for a college and are having challenges with your student-parent counts in this academic year due to the FAFSA changes, please reach out to Eddy Conroy at conroy@newamerica.org. |
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Do You Identify as a Black Student Parent? Nina Owolabi, a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, is recruiting for her dissertation study. She wants to understand the lived experiences of Black student parents who attend/ed community college during the ongoing pandemic. Participants will be asked to complete a brief survey, a 60-90-minute interview, a journal entry, and a follow-up interview. Participants can receive up to three $15 gift cards. Scan the QR Code on this flyer or contact Nina for more information. |
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Are you looking for ideas from across the field? Recruiting for a study? Seeking subjects to interview for a news article? Let us know and we’ll spread the word! |
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SPARK Collaborative Updates |
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We’ve been busily developing a new website, new resources, and new collaborative spaces. These are for you. Learn all about how to join the call to action and get involved at our grand opening event on September 30, 2024 – register here!
Have you been following our LinkedIn? We are excited to be sharing resources and insight there in between newsletters. We also want to boost the profiles of our 10 fabulous Skills and Training in Action Research (STAR) Fellows! Check it out! |
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We close out by celebrating! |
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From Today’s Student Coalition: 2024 Student Parent Congressional Roundtable On September 25, Today’s Student Coalition hosted their second annual congressional roundtable on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Congratulations to Abby Bediako, Atheena Martinez, Brittany Andrade, and Kwame Presley for sharing their lived expertise with our national lawmakers! And congratulations to filmmaker Jaye Fenderson for screening the powerful series Raising Up for this important audience! |
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From UC Berkeley: National Student Parent Month Meet & Greet It didn’t make the newsletter in time, but we wanted to shout out University of California Berkeley’s Student Parent Center for hosting a hybrid student-parent meet and greet event on September 23. Thank you for continuing to build community! |
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From Howard Community College: A New Child Care Partnership Howard Community College partnered with the Community Action Council of Howard County to open a early childhood education center that offers care for children of student parents between ages 3-5 free of charge! |
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From Generation Hope: Celebrate the New FamilyU Cohort! Congratulations to Metropolitan State University Denver, City College of San Francisco, Southern University of New Orleans, The University of New Mexico, and El Camino College for becoming part of Generation Hope’s new FamilyU cohort! |
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From Generation Hope: Celebrate the New FamilyU Seal Recipients! Congratulations to San Antonio College, Community College of Aurora, Dallas College, Hudson County Community College, Project Self-Sufficiency, and Santa Fe Community College for being honored for their exceptional support of parenting students through the FamilyU Seal! |
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From Ed Trust-West: A Successful Education Equity Forum Congratulations to Education Trust-West for a successful 5th convening! This event focused on how to harness the power of truth-telling and authentic engagement to be bold and resilient in creating education systems students of color and multilingual learners deserve. And congratulations to award winner Dr. Tina Cheuk who was honored at the event for her tireless efforts to champion student parents! |
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The Student-Parent Action through Research Knowledge (SPARK) Collaborative aims to collaboratively build evidence and make the case for policy change to support pregnant and parenting students so that they can meet their education and life goals. The SPARK Collaborative is stewarded by a working board with membership from the Urban Institute, The Pregnant Scholar, Child Trends, and Skills and Training in Action Research (STAR) Fellows.
Our goal is to share information from and with a broad audience. Inclusion in this newsletter does not imply endorsement by the SPARK Collaborative or any of its organizational partners. |
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