From a spring 2024 survey, El Paso Community College officials learned that many of their students who are pregnant or parents or caregivers of young children are unaware of the programs and resources available to them that could enable them to attend school and graduate.
About 75% of the 119 respondents to the survey conducted last March and April said they were not aware of the Children’s College, the Family College, or the Student-Parent Resource Centers (including breastfeeding centers and other services).
For this reason, EPCC is considering better communicating its existing programs and expanding other services to accommodate students who are parents, pregnant and/or caregivers or guardians of dependent children, said Keri Moe, assistant vice president for external relations, communications and development.
In 2023, EPCC reported that about 40% of its students, nearly 9,700, were parents. The college did not know the average age of the children. A nationwide study by New America released earlier this year found that 66% of community college students caring for a child under age 12 had dropped out without graduating five years after enrolling. Additionally, nationwide data from the Urban Institute showed that nearly 25% of students were parents.
“EPCC is committed to creating an environment where parents can thrive academically, emotionally and personally and successfully manage both their academic and parenting responsibilities,” Moe said. “Our priority is to educate students about the many services available to student parents.”
College leadership said its expanded plans to inform student parents include special orientations, support group meetings and family-friendly events to bring this group together, including evenings, weekends or virtual events. The college will add questions to its fall 2025 registration application that will help the college identify and contact students who may benefit from these programs.
Based on the feedback from the survey, EPCC will attempt to contact student parents via email, SMS and Blackboard, a course management system that allows for a quick connection between faculty and students. The college will continue to communicate via posters, flyers, the internet and social media to provide information about existing and new programs.
School administrators hope these efforts will raise awareness of helpful resources at their five campuses, such as student and parent information centers and breastfeeding areas, as well as offerings such as Family College and Children’s College and other family-friendly campus services.
EPCC will also instruct staff and faculty to be more responsive to student parents and encourage them to mention various resources for this group in the curriculum and across campus. The college also wants to promote Title IX protections for pregnant and parenting students.
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Lucia M. Rodriguez, director of EPCC’s Office of Student Success, said the goal of these various programs is to reduce – if not eliminate – the obstacles many student parents face when trying to earn a degree or certificate. The goal of these efforts is to increase enrollment, retention, persistence and graduation numbers.
“We have what they need,” Rodriguez said. “We just need to get the word out.”
Moe said student parents can also apply for emergency funds through the EPCC Foundation’s StayStrong Emergency Fund. She said the fund is dependent on donors and grants, so the amount available changes each semester.
Dejah Felton, an interdisciplinary studies student at EPCC’s Transmountain Campus, leaves her 18-month-old daughter De’vaya at the YWCA Transmountain Child Development Center on the northeast side of campus.
Felton said she knows about the Student-Parent Resource Center but has not used it yet. She said anything she or her daughter needs is taken care of at the Child Development Center, where she works as a teacher.
EPCC offers YWCA child care on its Transmountain and Valle Verde campuses. The college’s survey found that 71% of student parents prefer on-campus child care.
Felton said many student parents are surprised to learn they must apply to enroll their child in the YWCA center, which can accommodate up to 53 children ages 0 to 5. Student parents are given priority, but there is a waiting list that can last from a few days to a year, depending on the child’s age and available space. Some students may be eligible for financial assistance of up to 75 percent from the college for child care. The center’s average cost is about $120 per week per child.
The Northeast resident said she wasn’t aware of any other resources the college offers, but would consider attending workshops or programs to learn more about them. She would make time to participate in activities that would be appropriate for her daughter’s age.
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Rodriguez said the survey helped fulfill a commitment to Ascend at the Aspen Institute, which awarded the college a two-year, $75,000 grant in June 2023. The institute is one of a growing number of research, policy and advocacy organizations focused on college-bound parents.
EPCC used the grant to develop strategies to support student parents. One was to collect data on the number of student parents at the college, their needs, and the best ways to communicate with them. The other was to develop a two-generation approach that would benefit students and their children.
Until that point, the college had estimated its student parent population based on data from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which asks applicants how many dependent children they have and their ages. Of the 12,494 FAFSA applicants, 3,515 were parents. Of that group, 66% were female and 40% were single female parents. Their average age was 27.
According to the 2024 EPCC survey, 64% rated the college as family-friendly. However, respondents reported never or rarely bringing children to campus (60%), finding child-friendly spaces on campus (33%), bringing children to family-friendly events on campus (57%), or using breastfeeding rooms (6%).
“This means they don’t know what’s happening on campus,” Rodriguez said.
In addition, the principal shared some examples of what the college has offered to support parents, including free morning arts and crafts/story time on the Transmountain Campus during one of the weeks of the 2024 Thanksgiving break, sponsorship of summer camps on the Northwest Campus, and the annual family-friendly back-to-school Teal Bash on the Valle Verde Campus.
“We are planting a lot of seeds,” Rodriguez said of the college’s efforts to promote college culture.
EPCC administration plans to increase efforts to support student parents, such as offering more in-person classes at times that are convenient for students with dependent children, as well as more online classes. College administration will also consider options to extend hours or offer virtual support in the areas of tutoring, enrollment, and financial aid for student parents who frequently attend evening or weekend classes.
Rodriguez said the positive side of the survey is that those who responded said they learned a lot about the college’s programs and resources through the survey. Many said they will check them out and use them whenever possible.
