At least 5.4 million postsecondary students are parents. Student parents have great assets and motivation, but they graduate at lower rates than non-parenting students and would benefit from additional supports to improve their opportunities to achieve education and life goals. This report proposes a new definition for the field: A parenting student is someone who is enrolled in any level of education or training and is concurrently responsible for (or imminently will be responsible for) providing for a child of any age. They may be biological parents, stepparents, adoptive parents, foster parents, unmarried partners in a relationship, grandparents, extended family or siblings.

Read the report.