Data-driven Student Parent Policies on the Rise Across the United States

Stu­dent par­ents account for more than one in five stu­dents at col­leges across the Unit­ed States. And, although post-sec­ondary insti­tu­tions have his­tor­i­cal­ly strug­gled to iden­ti­fy and respond to their needs, a grow­ing num­ber of states are begin­ning to rec­og­nize that stu­dent par­ent sup­port is essen­tial to meet­ing their high­er edu­ca­tion and work­force goals.

To equip stu­dent par­ents to suc­ceed on and off cam­pus, col­lege and state lead­ers are devel­op­ing poli­cies that gath­er, track and inter­pret stu­dent par­ent data. The data not only give schools and law­mak­ers a more com­plete under­stand­ing of the stu­dent par­ents in their state, it also helps insti­tu­tions improve pro­grams and resources that sup­port stu­dents’ basic needs.

“We’re see­ing grow­ing recog­ni­tion that stu­dent par­ents are an impor­tant part of states’ high­er edu­ca­tion and work­force suc­cess,” said Quanic Fullard, a senior asso­ciate at the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion. ​“These poli­cies rep­re­sent mean­ing­ful progress toward ensur­ing stu­dent par­ents are vis­i­ble in our edu­ca­tion sys­tems and that col­leges have the infor­ma­tion they need to best sup­port them.”

Trans­form­ing Data into Action

In 2026, Vir­ginia and Mary­land advanced poli­cies to bet­ter rec­og­nize and sup­port stu­dent par­ents. They joined five oth­er states — Cal­i­for­nia, Illi­nois, Min­neso­ta, Ore­gon and Texas — in requir­ing col­leges to col­lect stu­dent par­ent data. 

Addi­tion­al­ly, New Mex­i­co passed a memo­r­i­al estab­lish­ing a task force to devel­op rec­om­men­da­tions for statewide stu­dent par­ent data col­lec­tion. Oth­er state poli­cies have expand­ed pro­tec­tions and sup­port for stu­dent par­ents, includ­ing cam­pus coor­di­na­tors, pri­or­i­ty course reg­is­tra­tion and nondis­crim­i­na­tion protections.

But gath­er­ing data is only the first step in cre­at­ing cam­pus­es that work for stu­dent par­ents, accord­ing to Fullard. ​“The stu­dent par­ent field has built sig­nif­i­cant momen­tum, with grow­ing state pol­i­cy action and increas­ing evi­dence about how data can help col­leges bet­ter sup­port stu­dent par­ents,” said Fullard. ​“The next chal­lenge is help­ing states and insti­tu­tions trans­late that momen­tum into effec­tive implementation.”

A new guide from Achiev­ing the Dream, a Casey grantee, illus­trates how schools are using data beyond just iden­ti­fy­ing stu­dent par­ents and track­ing out­comes; they are also gain­ing a more com­plete under­stand­ing of stu­dent par­ents’ basic needs, iden­ti­fy­ing gaps in ser­vices and con­nect­ing them with sup­port that helps them succeed.

• At Austin Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege in Texas, a statewide require­ment to col­lect stu­dent par­ent data has become a tool for con­nect­ing stu­dents with sup­port. When stu­dents self-iden­ti­fy as par­ents and request infor­ma­tion, the col­lege’s data sys­tem auto­mat­i­cal­ly alerts its basic needs team, which can reach out about child­care assis­tance and oth­er resources. 
• At Roane State Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege in Ten­nessee, a new stu­dent sur­vey helped the col­lege iden­ti­fy three times as many par­ent­ing stu­dents as it pre­vi­ous­ly iden­ti­fied through finan­cial aid data, allow­ing staff to con­nect more stu­dents with tar­get­ed support.
• At Bak­ers­field Col­lege in Cal­i­for­nia, data revealed that par­ent­ing stu­dents receiv­ing inten­sive sup­port through state pro­grams per­sist­ed at much high­er rates than those with­out access to those ser­vices. The find­ings helped the col­lege iden­ti­fy gaps in exist­ing sup­port and oppor­tu­ni­ties to extend resources to more par­ent­ing students.

The guide also offers encour­ag­ing ear­ly find­ings on stu­dent suc­cess; par­ent­ing stu­dent per­sis­tence at Austin Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege increased by near­ly 4 per­cent­age points while Patrick & Hen­ry Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege in Vir­ginia report­ed a 27 per­cent­age-point increase in reten­tion among first-time par­ent­ing students. 

Although these improve­ments can­not be attrib­uted to any sin­gle strat­e­gy, they illus­trate the poten­tial of com­bin­ing bet­ter data with coor­di­nat­ed, fam­i­ly-friend­ly policies.

Trans­lat­ing Pol­i­cy into Practice

As more states adopt poli­cies to sup­port stu­dent par­ents, atten­tion is increas­ing­ly turn­ing to what it takes to put those poli­cies into practice. 

Ear­li­er this year, the Casey Foun­da­tion co-host­ed a con­ven­ing in Bal­ti­more along­side sev­er­al oth­er fun­ders that brought togeth­er stu­dent par­ent lead­ers, advo­cates, researchers and oth­er partners. 

The gath­er­ing was a rare oppor­tu­ni­ty for stu­dent par­ent advo­cates to dis­cuss how data can be used to improve cross-sec­tor infra­struc­ture, inform pol­i­cy or nar­ra­tive change and build stronger con­nec­tions between school and work. These impor­tant con­ver­sa­tions posi­tioned advo­cates to con­tin­ue think­ing about ways pol­i­cy wins can improve basic needs access for stu­dent par­ents and lead to long-term eco­nom­ic mobil­i­ty across the Unit­ed States. 

“Col­leges can’t do this work alone,” said Fullard. ​“States and high­er edu­ca­tion sys­tems have an impor­tant role to play in help­ing insti­tu­tions build the capac­i­ty and part­ner­ships they need – includ­ing with ear­ly child­hood, work­force and human ser­vices agen­cies – so more stu­dent par­ents can meet their basic needs, com­plete col­lege and cre­ate eco­nom­ic secu­ri­ty for their families.”