Hannah Tello
Connector Contributor

An increasingly significant yet consistently invisible student population has recently emerged. Parenting-students have doubled their enrollment in four-year universities over the last 20 years. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 50 percent of nontraditional undergraduates (which themselves make up 56 percent of the entire population of college students) are either parenting or currently pregnant.

Parenting students, and especially single mothers, are seeking degrees from four-year universities rather than two-year community colleges. The reason is economics. In Mass. in 2005, an associate’s degree netted an additional $8,154 of income; a bachelor’s degree resulted in an additional $18,346 per year. This earnings gap is particularly critical in Massachusetts, where the estimated required annual income to support two dependent children is $65,880.

But in the absence of proactive University policies to support parent-students, they have some of the poorest academic outcomes; 60 percent of parenting students will withdraw before graduation according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That’s almost double the non-parenting student withdrawal rate. Average six-year graduation rates for all undergraduates are about 29 percent, but for single parents, that number is just 5 percent.

In the fall of 2013, in conjunction with the Center for Community Research and Engagement, Professor Robin Toof and I launched an effort to explore the size and needs of the UMass Lowell parenting student population. In two weeks, 197 parent-students from UMass Lowell completed our survey. Most participants were full-time undergraduate students (35 percent), followed by part-time graduate students (31 percent), full-time graduate students (20 percent), part-time undergraduate students (7 percent), continuing education students (5 percent) and other (2 percent). Most participants reported have just one child under the age of 18 (52 percent), but nearly one quarter (22 percent) of participants reported having three or more dependent children. Thirty-five percent of participants have at least one child under age four.

Our survey asked parent-students to assess their UMass Lowell experience in three categories: access to and quality of resources, sense of community and overall experience. A significant majority (91 percent) of participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed that they understood the types of services available to them; 86 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed that they would know who to talk to if they needed help with school-life balance. Only 11.9 percent of participants believe that the university provides adequate support services to parent-students.

Sixty-seven of parenting students either disagreed or strongly disagreed that they had connected with other parenting students; nearly 60 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed that they felt connected to the broader UML community and nearly 50 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed that they felt comfortable bringing their children to campus events.

Despite this, 67 percent of participants reported that, overall, their experience has been positive, and 77 percent reported being confident they would complete their academic goals on time.
Written comments illuminated the lack of access or understanding of existing resources. One participant wrote, “Before taking this survey I knew nothing of support for parenting students.” Another commented, “The school is very friendly and a wonderful academic environment, but I will admit that as a student and parent it’s a little lonely, especially [as] nontraditional students.”

Others lamented the frustrations of personal experiences. The challenge of breastfeeding was repeated by several participants, with one writing, “I feel it is degrading that I have to pump in the bathroom…the bathrooms [in my building] don’t have an electric outlet for my pump machine.” Another asked for “cozier” lactation rooms. Several respondents expressed the need for information about childcare; the request for on-site childcare was also repeated.

The demand for parenting-friendly campus initiatives has been recognized at several universities across the country. From Arizona State, to the University of North Carolina, to Princeton, campuses have developed policies to recognize the unique needs and unique assets of parenting students.

A university like UMass Lowell is particularly poised to answer this challenge. As a state university, we have a commitment to educational efforts that reflect the best interests of our community. In Lowell, 66 percent of households living below the poverty line are headed by single mothers. Increasingly, these mothers are seeking higher education as a pathway out of poverty. Public institutions in particular have a responsibility to meet the growing demand for parenting friendly policies that serve the economic interests of their constituents.

To spearhead this effort, I am proposing to organize parenting students and their allies in the effort to promote a parent-friendly campus culture at UMass Lowell. These efforts will support the university as it continues to set records in terms of student retention and six-year graduate rates, as well as to better understand the needs of parenting students. A coordinated effort between students, faculty, staff, administrators and community stakeholders is the most effective means of leveraging resources and accomplishing goals that are both feasible and high-impact.

If you are interested in this effort, please contact me at Hannah_Tello@student.uml.edu.