Colleges Are Getting Creative to Help Students With Kids

About a quarter of students at rural-serving colleges are parents, but those colleges are less likely to have on-campus childcare than non-rural institutions. New River Community College and others are adding support through 'busy boxes' with toys, partnerships with nonprofits, and data collection to better understand and serve parenting students who are more likely to be low-income, students of color, and first-generation college attendees.

Most of these colleges have limited funding and are relying on creative partnerships rather than major new resources.