Date of Award
8-2023
Culminating Project Type
Starred Paper
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Child and Family Studies: Family Studies: M.S.
Department
Child and Family Studies
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Frances Kayona
Second Advisor
Brittany Sullivan
Third Advisor
Amy Christensen
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
child care, student parents, Minnesota, financial aid, parenthood
Abstract
Over one quarter of students enrolled at postsecondary institutions are student parents (Institute for Women's Policy Research, 2018) with needs unique to the rest of the student body (United States Department of Education, 2022). These students’ stressors often include balancing a hectic schedule, multiple roles (parent, student, employee, etc.), and financial concerns (Dill & Henley, 1998). Due to these additional demands on attention and time, student parents are more likely to take longer to earn a degree or to leave school all together prior to graduation (Institute for Women's Policy Research, 2018).
The necessity of providing numerous supports, including child care, to strengthen student parents’ determination for educational attainment is the main topic of this paper. Although there are nearly four million undergraduate student parents in the United States (Cruse, Holtzman, Gault, Croom, & Polk, 2019) trying to accomplish educational advancement, too often challenges prevent degrees from being received. With the necessary supports and resources, such as financial aid and child care (Hess, Krohn, Reichlin, Roman, & Gault, 2014), some of the complexities can be untangled and students can focus on the important things, like family, homework, and progressing toward graduation.
Recommended Citation
Kroll, Alastriona, "Student Parents and Child Care: How finding and funding care for young children affects postsecondary education in Minnesota" (2023). Culminating Projects in Child and Family Studies. 46.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cfs_etds/46
