College Students with Children Are Common and Face Many Challenges in Completing Higher Education. Briefing Paper #C404.

Nearly 25 percent of college students in the U.S., or four million students, have dependent children. Among low-income and first-generation college students, more than a third are parents, and students of color are especially likely to be balancing parenting and college, with 37% of African American, 33% of Native American, and 25 percent of Latino students raising children. Being a parent substantially increases the likelihood of leaving college with no degree, with 53% of parents vs. 31% of nonparents having left with no degree after six years. Among low-income college students with children, parents are 25% less likely to obtain a degree than low-income adults without children. Student parents operate under often crushing time demands, with more than 40% working full time or more, and over half spending 30 hours per week on care-giving activities. Even in the face of these pressures, students with children, like other students who are older than average, have higher GPA's than non-parents.