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Introduction
Problem: student parent challenges at
BGSU
At most 1,100 undergraduate student
parents
Purpose: gain deeper understanding of
student parent experiences at BGSU
Previous work: qualitative white paper
(2015)

Literature Review
4.8 million student parents (26% of
undergrads)
Only 33% of student parents complete a
degree within 6 years
Best practices: increased awareness,
family-friendly study spaces, allocating
space for nursing mothers
Four areas: on-campus child care,

Methods
Quantitative survey sent to 880 student
parents
Participant demographic info: 37
respondents
Types of questions:

Demographics
Academic Support
Campus Services - existing and potential

Demographic
Information

Findings
Response rate of 4%
Wanted major department and academic
advising offices to be more supportive
Instructors were reported to be fairly
supportive
Student parents do not utilize many
campus services

Overall Perceptions

Desired Campus Services

(Number of Responses)
Service/Initiative

Very
helpful

Helpful

Both helpful and

unhelpful

Unhelpful

Very
unhelpful

Unsure/
I dont know

Total
Responses

Private nursing/pumping
areas

10

31

Designated office or
relaxation space

10

11

31

On-campus child care

facilities

19

31

Additional scholarship
funds

25

31

Priority or early
registration

20

31

14

30

Designated graduate or
family on-campus
housing options

Implications
Instructor and staff training about
student parents needs
Academic affairs staff should reach out
to directly to student parents due to low
usage
Recommendations: priority registration,
on-campus child care facilities,
additional scholarships

Next Steps
Discuss with Nontraditional and Military
Student Services
Seek out additional data from IR
Conduct individual interviews with student
parents
Consult with Bowling Green Pregnancy
Center about student parents dropping out

Lessons Learned
Better market the survey

Incentive
Campus Update
Timing - earlier in the semester

Be specific in approach to IR for

information
Confident in design abilities, but want to
know more about analysis

Discussion
How can we approach IR for more
relevant information?
What would you have done differently?
What other analyses could have been
done?
Many respondents left comments. How
does this influence the projects next
steps?

Student Parent
Comment
The fact that there is a Women's
Center and this survey makes
me happy...that it is being
noticed that parent students
struggle to accomplish their
goals. So thank you.