Three Community Colleges Helping Student Parents Secure Support and Stability

“Stu­dent Par­ents: The Pow­er of Wrap­around Sup­ports,” a new arti­cle from the Fed­er­al Reserve Bank of Rich­mond, details how three com­mu­ni­ty col­leges are meet­ing the non-aca­d­e­m­ic needs of stu­dent par­ents.

These wrap­around ser­vices — which include assis­tance with child care, trans­porta­tion, hous­ing and men­tal health ser­vices — pro­vide crit­i­cal sup­port to stu­dents who lead busy, often stress­ful, lives on and off campus.

Read Stu­dent Par­ents: The Pow­er of Wrap­around Supports

“Par­ents with depen­dent chil­dren account for 22% of all com­mu­ni­ty col­lege stu­dents,” said Quanic Fullard, arti­cle co-author and a senior asso­ciate with the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Cen­ter for Eco­nom­ic Oppor­tu­ni­ty. ​“This arti­cle pro­vides a look at how com­mu­ni­ty col­leges are rec­og­niz­ing what stu­dents with chil­dren need to be suc­cess­ful and devel­op­ing pro­grams and resources with that in mind.”

Howard Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege (Colum­bia, Maryland)

Thanks to a new Kids on Cam­pus part­ner­ship, Howard Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege stu­dents, fac­ul­ty and staff can access full-day child care through its new­ly reopened Chil­dren’s Learn­ing Center.

Par­ents on cam­pus can also use addi­tion­al resources like child friend­ly study spaces — made pos­si­ble through the Casey-sup­port­ed Fam­i­lyU — and access state-based child care pro­grams for chil­dren under 3.

Mia­mi Dade Col­lege (Mia­mi, Florida)

Through its Mis­sion North Star pilot pro­gram, stu­dent par­ents at Mia­mi Dade Col­lege are assigned a stu­dent par­ent coor­di­na­tor and con­nect­ed to child care, tutor­ing, finan­cial aid guid­ance and employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties. The school used focus groups and sur­veys to iden­ti­fy the spe­cif­ic needs of young stu­dent par­ents and inform the devel­op­ment of on-cam­pus support.

Mis­sion North Star was cre­at­ed through the Expand­ing Oppor­tu­ni­ties for Young Fam­i­lies ini­tia­tive, a five-year effort fund­ed by the Casey Foun­da­tion that pre­pares par­ents ages 18 to 29 for edu­ca­tion­al and finan­cial success.

Forsyth Tech­ni­cal Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege (Win­ston-Salem, North Carolina)

Forsyth Tech­ni­cal Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege at the Stu­dent Par­ent Advo­ca­cy Research Cen­ter (SPARC) pro­vides a vari­ety of wrap­around ser­vices for stu­dents with chil­dren. These include drop-in child care as well as spe­cial advis­ing and reg­is­tra­tion hours that work with the unique sched­ules of stu­dent parents.

A stu­dent par­ent group called Bring­ing the SPARC plans events and cre­ates a wel­com­ing, low-stress space where stu­dent par­ents can con­nect, sup­port one anoth­er and advo­cate for their needs. Build­ing on this momen­tum, Forsyth will open a ded­i­cat­ed on-cam­pus area for stu­dent par­ents in fall 2025 — fur­ther strength­en­ing its com­mit­ment to their success.

Learn more about the evolv­ing needs of stu­dent parents