USC should expand student parent support services

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College students are no strangers to having to ration their time and energy between multiple pursuits. Between classes, work, extracurriculars and social activities, college is a stressful balancing act. However, a certain student population within colleges deals with an additional pressure: parents. 

According to data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, more than one in five undergraduate college students are parents. Single mothers represent more than two in five of these student parents. While there are no statistics on undergraduate student parents at USC, the University should work to provide sufficient childcare support to facilitate an environment where these students can focus on their studies while raising children.

The USC Engemann Student Health Center currently offers sexual and reproductive health care services, including birth control prescription, contraceptive insertion and a “full range” of consultation services. In 2019, USC Student Health and USC Pharmacy partnered to set up a wellness-to-go machine in the King Hall lobby that functions like a vending machine, stocked with contraceptive devices and pregnancy tests among other over-the-counter pharmaceutical products.

Both the services that Engemann offers and the wellness-to-go machine offer sufficient means to prevent unwanted pregnancies. However, they do not address the needs of students who already have children.

USC provides childcare for its staff, faculty and students at Bright Horizons at University Park, the University’s child development center. Bright Horizons serves children from the age of six weeks to five years. The center, which operates from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, takes a lot of burden off of student parents. 

However, the full-time tuition rate at Bright Horizons ranges from $1,118 to $1,522 depending on the child’s age. The average monthly cost of infant care in California is $1,412, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Especially because student parents are shouldering the cost of their own tuition and may not have entered the workforce yet, USC should strive to offer childcare at a lower rate.

If lower rates cannot be achieved immediately, the University should better advertise the Childcare Subsidy Grants Program, through which the USC Graduate Student Government gives out a limited amount of financial aid to graduate student parents who need assistance with paying for childcare. The aid packages, which total to $1,400, are awarded each semester. While it is unclear from the website how many awards are given out each semester, eliminating or decreasing the cost of childcare through grants is a great way for the University to support student parents. The University should consider extending the grant to include undergraduate student parents who may have similar financial needs. In addition, the University should consider further easing the financial strain on student parents by adding grants that can be used for other child-raising necessities including health care.

USC could also provide classes online for parents of children who are under the age that Bright Horizons cares for. Having online courses allows for greater flexibility of scheduling and allows student parents to engage in schoolwork from their own homes, leaving more time to spend with their newborn children. Similarly, online classes may also decrease the likelihood that the student will fall behind on coursework while caring for their child.

Parenting seminars may also be a good resource for new student parents. At UC Berkeley, students can learn important skills such as breastfeeding through a no-cost program sponsored by Health Services. This will not only teach student parents how to navigate parenthood but also connect student parents with each other and form a community. 

Student parents are an often invisible yet valuable population at USC. With stronger advertising of existing support services and creating new ones, the University can help ensure that parenthood does not interfere with students’ academic lives and, equally important, that students’ academic lives do not interfere with parenthood.