At the L.A. Valley College Family Resource Center on May 7, Dr. Lisa Catanzarite, UNITE-LA’s Vice President of Research and Evaluation, presented findings from our Empowering L.A. Students for College Success research report. Sonia Campos-Rivera, UNITE-LA’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, discussed policy opportunities to support parenting students.

The research report illuminates parenting student demographics, their representation at L.A. County's Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), existing IHE supports, and challenges faced by both parenting students and the institutions serving students. Recommendations include enhanced data collection and institutional supports to foster equitable outcomes and improve college attainment for parenting students.

At its core, college success for parenting students is an equity issue. Our research draws on interviews and focus groups with 43 administrators and staff from IHEs, as well as 11 parenting students. We analyzed the latest quantitative data on parenting students from the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) and LACCD's fall 2022 student survey, which now includes specific questions on parenting, ultimately highlighting key student experiences:

• Fourteen percent of students are parents.
• Parenting is far more prevalent among women, BIPOC students, older students and students attending community colleges, compared to their counterparts.
• Many parenting students encounter significant hurdles, including child care, housing, transportation, financial constraints and scheduling conflicts, hindering degree progress.

We extend our gratitude to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for funding this year-long project; the LACCD Foundation, L.A. Valley College Foundation and SoCal Grantmakers for sponsoring the event; and to the interview participants across L.A. County's two-year and four-year IHEs, CSAC and LACCD for providing invaluable information.

For more information, please reach out to Dr. Lisa Cantanzarite, Vice President of Research & Evaluation, at [email protected].