Elevating Student Parents through State Policy
Student Parent Spotlight Blog Series
Blog Post
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Oct. 19, 2023
New America sat down for a conversation with Amanda Winters, Program Director, and Portia Polk, Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Best Practices at the National Governors Association (NGA), to discuss the state policy efforts they are doing to elevate the voices and needs of student parents.
The Student Parent Spotlight Blog Series is an ongoing series where New America is highlighting key conversations with experts and practitioners who are closing gaps in the field by conducting research, developing strategies for policy reform, engaging in advocacy, and supporting and serving student parents.
New America: How does NGA consider the needs and experiences of student parents in its work?
NGA: The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices approaches the student parent policy area from a 30,000-foot level—with the broader framing of the “new normal” of learners being engaged in state postsecondary systems and provided with support services to help these students succeed. That new normal of students includes the nearly 1 in 4 college students that identify as student parents. One of the framing issues that we are considering when engaging in student parent conversations is the limited access to postsecondary education opportunities that students from multiple identities face. In many ways, the student parent experience can serve as an example for how we can think about better serving all of our student populations and expand the pipeline to their educational and career pathways.
New America: How can we shift the narrative around student parents in policy spaces?
NGA: There are so many layers to who student parents are, what they need, and the systems they interact with on a daily basis. And these layers exist at the federal, state, and local levels. NGA is focused on making sure student parents are a model for the students we are serving in our state systems. Many students need supports like transportation, housing, and food to help them achieve postsecondary success. Using student-parents as the archetype for state postsecondary support programs can be a win-win for all students who need sufficient resources to access and complete their degree or credential.
New America: What are the most critical state policy issues for parenting students?
NGA: There are a lot of opportunities, but no specific strategy, for states that want to be involved in the student parent space. We have seen some states begin expanding their data collection to better understand where these individuals exist within their postsecondary institutions. We are also seeing increased co-location of services on college campuses including workforce, childcare, and family supports. But most of the work that has been done in this policy space has been connected to institutional strategy, not a state-level approach to this population. NGA is very interested in exploring the policy space with governors’ offices to better understand the emerging and promising practices in aligning state priorities to support and incentivize institutional innovation.
New America: What barriers do you see as the most challenging when it comes to advancing policy that helps student parents?
NGA: One important barrier is data collection. It's important to collect data on student parents to inform policy and practice, and there are some data collection efforts underway in states like Oregon, Texas, and Illinois. At the same time, we must focus on using evidence-based and promising practices to effectively implement programs—on college campuses and beyond—to help student parents. We tend to only capture the stories of people who have been resilient enough to get through the system. For people who started and dropped out along the way, we also need a way to assess, understand, and share their experiences.
In addition, while there is some funding available to implement policies that will support student parents, it can be difficult to connect funding streams—especially those from the federal government—with existing state programs.
New America: Where would you like to see your student parent work in the future?
NGA: As we move forward with our student parent work, we would like to have richer data to help governors’ offices support evidence-based policies and are excited about the development of data collection efforts currently underway at the federal and state levels. We also plan to play a role in shifting the conversation in this space so that there is a real exploration of how states can engage with and support student parents through completion. Finally, we also want to explore less discussed aspects of the student-parent space, such as what can be done for formerly incarcerated individuals.