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January 27, 2026 — The Urban Institute announced today its collaboration with seven community colleges and community college systems and with six universities to improve data collection and actions to support students who are parents. The selected colleges and universities will be joining the Data-to-Action Campaign for Parenting Students, which aims to help postsecondary institutions collect high-quality data on students’ parenting status and use data in novel ways to help student parents and their families succeed. 

“There are over 200,000 students who are parents in Texas. State legislators have created policies to better aid these students in their postsecondary education, like designating liaisons for parenting students, ensuring priority course registration for them, and requiring protections from discrimination,” said Theresa Anderson, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. “Colleges and universities in Texas are now required to collect data on students’ parenting status, and we’re excited to be collaborating with these higher education institutions to provide them with technical assistance, recommendations, and opportunities for community learning.”

The 13 community college and university partners in Texas are as follows:

• Alamo Colleges District – San Antonio
• Central Texas College – Killeen
• El Paso Community College – El Paso
• Houston City College – Houston
• Midland College – Midland
• North Central Texas College – Gainesville
• South Texas College – McAllen
• Stephen F. Austin State University – Nacogdoches
• Tarleton State University – Stephenville
• Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi – Corpus Christi
• Texas Woman’s University – Denton
• University of North Texas – Denton
• University of Texas at Arlington – Arlington

In the Data-to-Action Texas collaboration, Urban researchers will work with participating colleges and universities to assess their current resources for student parents, gather student and community input on how to strengthen credential and degree pathways for parents, collect improved data on parenting students, and establish leadership hubs to support other Texas colleges. The project will foster cross-campus collaboration and data-informed student-success practices and programming. The higher education institutions will aim to create appropriate supports for student parents and promote a family-friendly culture on campuses, both of which can improve student outcomes. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Greater Texas Foundation fund this effort.

Nationally, 18 percent of undergraduate students are parents. In Texas, 22 percent of community college students and 14 percent of university students are parents. Research published by the Urban Institute shows that mothers who start or return to higher education while raising children gain short- and long-term benefits in their educational and economic growth, as do their children. Additionally, a study by Urban researchers focusing on Virginia’s public colleges found that supporting student parent degree completion would be a net benefit to taxpayers, based on tax revenue gains and decreased public benefit receipt.

Urban’s Data-to-Action Campaign for Parenting Students launched in 2024 and featured colleges in California, Illinois, and Oregon. Texas is the latest state to join the college community of practice. The insights from this cohort can inform data collection strategies across other colleges, universities, higher education systems, and states, as well as in federal policymaking. 

About the Urban Institute

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization founded on one simple idea: To improve lives and strengthen communities, we need practices and policies that work. For more than 50 years, that has been our charge. By equipping changemakers with evidence and solutions, together we can create a future where every person and community has the opportunity and power to thrive.