College Students Who are Parents Need Equitable Services for Retention

Abstract

Growing populations which represent undergraduate students who are parents include females, non-traditional age students, and mothers who are single and living in poverty. Student-parent retention services appeared extremely disproportionate to the number of student-parents on campuses. Studentparents in this quantitative analysis showed significant differences in motivation, classroom experiences, and goal attainment influenced by the ages of their children, degree plan, and their own age. Parents with older children had higher levels of motivation and goal attainment when compared to parents with younger children. Parents earning 4-year degrees had lower levels of motivation and weaker classroom experiences compared to those earning 2-year degrees. Non-traditional age parents had higher levels of goal attainment. The traditional age student-parents with young children pursuing a 4-year degree showed the greatest impediments to persistence.