This isn't the first time Hough has tried college. Last time, the community college she attended didn't have child care or student parent support, and so she says she dropped out. She's hoping this time around she'll get her degree.

In at least 30 states, average yearly child care costs surpass the costs of in-state tuition at public colleges,

A new proposal by U.S. House Democrats would expand the only federal program that helps: Child Care Access Means Parents in School, or CCAMPIS. The proposed expansion would quadruple CCAMPIS funding, upping it to $200 million.

Student parents often have higher GPAs than students without children,

Between studying for her weekly anatomy and physiology exam, and writing an English paper, Kate Hough somehow finds time for coloring, dress-up parties and putting together four different Halloween costumes (a princess, a cowgirl and two clowns). Hough is working toward her nursing degree at Mount Wachusett Community College, in central Massachusetts, while raising four kids — two toddlers and two in elementary school.

However, with the right determination many are able to successfully navigate these challenges and make it through early parenthood without sacrificing continued education.

Those struggling to balance parenthood, college, and employment obligations often fail to care appropriately for their own personal needs.

Financial difficulties are another major challenge for students parents. In 2000, approximately 10.4 percent of full-time college students also worked at least twenty hours per week.

Planning ahead and always having a backup plan is essential. Scheduling one’s day, week, or often month ahead of time can help to see where time is available to study or prep for schoolwork. Even small chunks of time can be utilized for work if they’re recognized and accounted for ahead of time.

One of the biggest challenges for new parents is time management. Children are demanding and don’t care if their parents have an 8:00 AM test and haven’t slept in three days. Children get sick, babysitters cancel, and babies require constant attention.

Not only do student parents need to focus on studying in the library, working on online college classes, or social life, they must take total responsibility for a whole new life. However, one can be successful in balancing the challenges of parenting and college successfully with careful planning and organization.

This approach was most often seen when the challenge had to do with internal characteristics of their children rather than situational factors.

One father (who owns his own business), when asked what resources he finds helpful in dealing with his son, indicated that while parenting books were all well and good, he found more benefit in business and leadership books than parenting books per se.

, having a hectic schedule was also discussed as a major challenge for some families. Also related to time was the issue of the parents not having enough time to themselves—either because of their children or work schedules.

 Several parents indicated that one of their major challenges would be dealing with their children growing up.

Many parents mentioned challenges directly related to internal characteristics of one or more of their children. They mentioned things like being too easily influenced, being defiant, being hypersensitive, or being disorganized

hat's particularly problematic given the fact that these parents are also more likely to have low-incomes than their fellow students.

Colorado’s Child Care Assistance Program was frozen, leaving little financial help available.

She says that she looked into childcare on campus, but that the facility wouldn’t hold a spot open for her until March, when her child will be old enough to finally start daycare. And then a nearby Early Head Start program bumped her to the wait-list after originally confirming her registration.

It might also be true that these types of facilities aren’t yet considered a financial priority.

The reasons behind the declining availability in childcare are varied, potentially a mix of both budget constraints and academic culture

that’s about 26 percent of all college undergraduates. The vast majority of these students, 71 percent, are women.

and then another two years at home taking care of her baby

Childcare is actually even less available on campus, and more expensive than it was then,” she says. “Student-parents are still an invisible population.”

If students feel that their situation is not a deal-breaker for classroom success, it might increase their chances of staying and graduating on time. It also gives the instructor the opportunity to direct them to other helpful resources available on campus. Sometimes simply reaching out and recognizing a student in need can be a huge intervention in what would otherwise be an overlooked barrier to that student's success.

implement a classroom policy that demonstrates understanding.

Both inside the classroom and in the broader campus community, student parents can benefit from a simple demonstration of understanding. Professors want to keep students on track with their education, and not accommodating the needs of parents could mean these students withdraw from class altogether.

In 2018, Congress tripled federal funding for CCAMPIS, from $15 to $50 million dollars, a promising indication that the severity of this issue is starting to be recognized. However, this program aids only a limited number of campuses and a very small portion of students who need it. IWPR and NPR report that only about 11,000 students currently benefit from the program, less than 1% of the estimated 1.8 million college student parents who need it.

WPR argues that a lot needs to be done to improve this situation, including giving parents access to emergency financial aid, affordable housing, mentorship and peer support, and improved mental and physical healthcare.

, 55% of college student parents are single parents, 56% have a child younger than five years old (and therefore, likely in need of daycare), and 44% are working full time in addition to going to college and raising children.

slightly more than 22% of undergraduate students today are parents. Though that is a sizable portion of the student population, half of them leave college without completing a degree.

today's college students are changing. According to the AAC&U, they no longer fit the traditional image of a college student aged 18-24, living in dorms on campus, and just entering into early adulthood and its various responsibilities.

For them, access to affordable, reliable child care can mean the difference between graduating and dropping out.

These student parents tend to have higher GPAs than traditional students. They’re often older, single, and women of color. But more than half of them leave school without getting a degree. 

Stanford University campus, where eight childcare facilities serve the dependents of staff, faculty, and students, from infant to early childhood — and students have enrollment priority over university staff (Cardinal at Work, 2016).

The largest institutional limitations to completion rates for pregnant and parenting students are the flexibility of programs with respect to course sequencing and time commitments (Yakaboski, 2010), lack of available housing or affordable housing programs (McCormack, 2007), lack of lactation facilities (Springer, Parker, & Levitan-Reid, 2009), and lack of sufficient and available childcare

To treat the unique challenges of pregnant and parenting students in college as a social justice and equity issue, an assessment of which programs and policies are supportive of pregnant and parent students is necessary.

Yet, even with this guidance on being more diversity-conscious, legislative efforts like the Student Success Act tend to exacerbate the still-unaddressed vulnerabilities to access restrictions for under-represented students from marginalized populations

The lack of research on and indeed recognition for parent-students makes it difficult for colleges to develop evidence-based support programs.

indicated that access to low-cost childcare was a significant barrier to their students.

in studying almost 10,000 students across 18 colleges in New York, Wladis, Conway, and Hachey (2016) found that having at least one dependent child under six years old was a primary predictor of college dropout and low completion rates.

the lack of literature on this topic is closely coupled with reasons and recommendations for a concerted focus on parent students in college research and planning

Parent students are an under-represented population that ought to be accounted for in student equity planning and research because lack of access and opportunity for would-be students who happen to have children is a social justice problem

recognize parent students as a group essential to student equity and social justice

the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program has issued less grants for programs that target parent students every year since 2012.

25% have at least one dependent child; for both low-income and first-generation students, that percentage jumps up to nearly 33%; of those with children, 49% are first-generation students.

are not afraid to ask for help are less stressed and in better physical health. Friends and family can remind student parents often that they are there for them and that it is normal to not have everything under control and figured out all the time.

we tested whether college-based stress and parenting-based stress negatively influenced the physical health of student parents. Like we expected, the student parents in our study who experienced high levels of parenting and academic stress had worse health outcomes. For example, these parents were sleeping and exercising less than their peers who did not experience such high stress.

Social presence

We found that the higher the costs student parents reported they felt, the worse their physical health. 

intrapersonal and interpersonal and occur when people feel stigmatized or distressed about asking for help.

Social network members like family, friends, and others who care can offer instrumental support like parenting advice or study tips. They can also offer tangible support like tuition money or a place to stay. When people receive enough good support, they are better off physically, mentally, and socially.

some student parents question why they are putting themselves and their families through this stress and whether a college degree is really worth it

financial burden

Some reasons for leaving college early include not having a strong enough support system including friends and family that can pitch in and help when the student parent needs to stay late on campus or when a child is sick.

 Nearly 5 million undergraduate students are also parents in the United States.