RESEARCH BRIEF - Underwater: Student Mothers and Fathers Struggle to Support Their Families and Pay Off College Loans

Oct 15, 2026

Research brief addressing how student mothers and fathers with children face compounded barriers to academic success and loan repayment while pursuing college degrees and certificates. Original IWPR research highlights high rates of financial insecurity, including food and housing challenges, and shows that borrowers with children take out more education loans yet struggle more to pay them back. A new survey of 2,000+ current and former students compares borrowing experiences and perceptions across students with and without children, revealing regret, missed payments, and gender and racial inequities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Research Highlights

Survey Results

Introduction

Student Parents as a Significant Proportion of College Students

Student Loan Debt and Financial Circumstances

RESEARCH BRIEF April 2023 UNDERWATER: STUDENT MOTHERS AND FATHERS STRUGGLE TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES AND PAY OFF COLLEGE LOANS By Afet Dundar, PhD, Lauren A. Tighe, PhD, and Jennifer Turner, PhD RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS • IWPR conducted original research on an often-overlooked group of students—parents with children—as they struggle to make ends meet while pursuing academic degrees and certificates. • Student parents often face enormous financial barriers to academic success. They report high financial insecurity including issues with food, housing and other basic needs. For students with children, borrowing for postsecondary education may mean accumulating debt without improved labor market outcomes or the financial ability to pay off loans. This is because the financial barriers and logistical challenges, such as inadequate access to reliable child care, student parents face may result in leaving college early without a credential, which has implications for future earnings. • Our new survey of over 2,000 current and former college students compares the borrowing experiences of students with and without children, including perceptions of their borrowing choices. SURVEY RESULTS: • Compared to students without children, student parents were much more likely to takeout educational loans and have more difficulty paying them off. Student parents were also significantly more likely to have missed loan payments than non-student parents. • Around three-fifths ofall students reported that college loans supported their postsecondary education, yet student parents struggled with having enough money for basic needs for their children and families. • Nearly half of student parents expressed regret regarding their student loan choices, which was slightly more than student non-parents. • Student mothers struggled more than student fathers: they had more trouble with loan repayment and had more difficulty making ends meet. At the same time, student mothers seemed to fare better than student fathers in their ability to successfully secure scholarships to help pay for school. • Black student parents reported more challenging circumstances than the overall student parent population: Black student mothers and fathers were more likely to take out loans to pay for their degrees and slightly more likely to struggle with loan repayment than student parents overall. • At the same time, Black student mothers developed effective strategies to promote their educational and economic advancement compared to student mothers overall. For example, they were more likely to attend and graduate from four-year institutions, make loan payments, and take advantage of scholarships and grants than student mothers generally. Based on these data, some policy options to consider include: • Expand federal student debt relief, especially for college students with children, as well as needbased grant programs that do not require repayment, such as Pell Grants. • Invest further in child care centers and other support programs for student parents. For example, foster greater collaboration among community colleges and educational and care services forchildren (e.g., Head Start) through a federal competitive grant program. • Devote more attention to the gender and racial inequities student parents face, especially in college affordability, institutional support, and intergenerational programs and services. Ensure that these programs and policies address the extra challenges often faced by student mothersand fathers and student parents of color. INTRODUCTION Student Parents are a Significant Proportion of College Students Among undergraduate students seeking postsecondary education in the U.S., nearly one-fifth or 22 percent of all undergraduate students are raising children while enrolled in college (Reichlin Cruse et al., 2021) . Student parents are most often motivated to improve their education for reasons beyond themselves, includin

FAQs

What does the research focus on?

The research examines student mothers and fathers with children as they pursue postsecondary education while struggling to support families and manage education debt.

How do student parents’ loan repayment outcomes compare with those of students without children?

Compared with students without children, student parents are more likely to take out educational loans, have more difficulty paying them off, and are more likely to miss loan payments.

What inequities does the brief highlight?

The brief reports that student mothers struggle more than student fathers with loan repayment, and that Black student parents face more challenging circumstances overall while also developing effective strategies for educational and economic advancement.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sophia Brooks