To mark the end of Student Parent Month this past September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law requiring the state’s postsecondary institutions to collect data on student parents and expand access to financial aid. Known as the Greater Accessibility, Information, Notice, and Support for Student Parents Act, the law highlights the critical role data can have in addressing the needs of student parents—more than 3.14 million undergraduates (PDF) and 1 million graduate students in the US.

Research has shown college can improve educational and economic outcomes for mothers and their children, but parents are less likely to complete degrees in a timely manner. Without accurate data at the college or local level, it’s difficult to identify how to better support these students.

Since 2022, the Urban Institute’s Data-to-Action Campaign (D2A) has collaborated with colleges in California, Illinois, and Oregon to improve their student-parent data collection efforts and family-friendliness. Engaging directly with student parents has been essential to this work.

We asked student parents from colleges participating in the D2A campaign how their institutions could better support them and gather more accurate data on their experiences. They offered six ways institutions could improve how they collect data on parenting students:

1. Make questions about students’ parent status mandatory. On some campuses, course registration includes a question about parent status, but it’s optional. Other institutions use surveys that reach only a fraction of students.
   
   Embedding the question in a process that most students access, such as course registration, and requiring a response will yield a greater response rate. Institutions should also prompt student parents through nudges or reminders to report their information.
2. Foster a campus environment where student parents feel safe sharing their identity. Some student parents may not share their parenting status if they feel unwelcome or distrust institutions in general. At colleges where parenting students are less common or student-parent culture is less visible, some may be less willing to report their status. By authentically engaging student parents, institutions can build trust and an inclusive campus environment.
3. Clearly explain why you’re collecting these data and how data will be used. Student parents should be fully informed so they can decide whether to share their information. Will the institution report the data to the state government? Will the institution use the data to help tailor resources to student parents or update its policies? Will the data help ensure they have priority course registration? Will students be able to view the aggregate data?
   
   Institutions should explain how the data will be used when they ask student parents to report their data. They could also build awareness about how the data will be used at campus events. Ultimately, transparency could help foster greater trust between institutions and these students.
4. Understand barriers student parents may face. Commonly, student parents face financial barriers to attending college and lack access to adequate child care. In rural or tribal communities, student parents are more likely to have inconsistent access to the internet or technology. Black, Hispanic, and Native American college students and students with low incomes often face added barriers to commuting to campus. Collecting data on student parents can help institutions address such barriers and increase student retention.
5. Collect data when students are less busy. Students may be more likely to complete a form or survey before the academic year begins or during course registration.
   
   Compared with their peers, student parents are more likely to experience time poverty, meaning they have less time to spend on school. Completing a long survey at a busy time during the school semester could be especially burdensome.
6. Encourage responses through incentives. Colleges could increase response rates by offering gift cards, entering students who report their status into a raffle, or providing other incentives.

In addition to colleges and universities, federal and state policymakers can also play a part in collecting better data on student parents and expanding their access to resources. Legislation at the state or federal level could require colleges to collect these data and ensure student parents are appropriately informed how their data will be used.

By improving data collection efforts, both institutions and lawmakers can help ensure student parents can access the resources they and their families need to succeed.