Single Parents in College: Tackling the Dual Challenge
Experts think that two out of ten college students today are single parents, either male or female. And the number of single parents in college is constantly on the rise. This should come as no surprise as single parent households have been on a strong and steady rise for several decades. Whether by chance or choice, single parenting is a popular lifestyle among adults today.
Today, there are more single parents enrolled in college than ever before. Single parents face tough challenges, and single parents who are also college students have additional stresses and demands to deal with.
The Challenges for Single Parent College Students
Single parents going to college face many obstacles and difficulties. They have demands on your time that are greater than the amount of time you spend in class. They must also study to achieve satisfactory academic performance. The pressures to perform in class add to those they already feel from their responsibilities at home and raising children.
Society may not recognize the additional charge. Being a single parent in college doesn’t change the social expectations for holding parent-teacher conferences, attending PTA meetings, coaching kids’ sports teams, and the myriad of other activities expected of parents today.
And people may view single parents in college differently. Even if having children was a conscious choice, people may assume that the single parent was irresponsible in his social and sexual behavior. Peers and teachers may assume that the single parent is promiscuous, creating even more problems for the bullied student. So while the stigma against single parents has largely disappeared in modern Western cultures, it may not have completely disappeared for single parents in college.
* Time management
Managing packed schedules and meeting tough time constraints is hard enough for single parents. There are so many expectations and demands, and the same 24 hours to meet them. For single parents attending college, time is a precious commodity.
They must somehow deal with the need to study and keep grades up with the need to take care of their children and provide them with a happy and healthy environment in which to grow. Class attendance and children’s extracurricular activities may conflict.
Exams can be scheduled during soccer games. They may have to choose between taking the baby to the pediatrician or going to their own doctor for that bad cold. There are no easy options for single parents in college.
Time constraints affect more than the children and the family unit. The single parent college student has little time to care for their own physical and emotional health. Regular exercise, a healthy diet and adequate rest can be impossible.
Finding the time and a quiet place to study can be one of the hardest parts of your day. Often the study does not begin until the children have fallen asleep. That means losing precious hours of your own sleep. Balancing academic life and a single parent family is a Herculean challenge.
* Manage money
Single parents already face the challenge of being their family’s main earner. Going to college adds a significant financial burden to an already strained pocketbook and budget.
As most of us know, college expenses are significant today. Tuition and fees, textbooks, lab fees, transportation, and parking costs eat up limited money for rent, groceries, and child care.
While student loans are available, they add to the financial burdens unknown to college students without children. Mounting debt can be a necessary evil for single parents going to college.
Is there any question, then, about why so many single parents drop out of college or get poor grades? Recent studies suggest that some single parents are choosing to place their children in foster care or up for adoption to improve their lives with a college degree.
Those without a supportive extended family or outside resources may be forced to make this heartbreaking decision to give their children the best possible chance in life. The hard fact of the matter is that without a college degree, the single parent may not be able to give their children a normal life anyway.
No matter how tempted we may be to judge single parents in college who drop out, it’s important to recognize and admit their terrible dilemma. And for those who are able to pull it off, society owes them a thunderous round of applause.
