2024(4): Case Study: The Minnesota Student Parent Support Initiative

Selvi M. Bunce, University of Colorado Denver

Abstract

This case study examines the strengths, weaknesses, and implications of the Minnesota Student Parent Support Initiative (MSPSI). The current MSPSI is the second of its kind in Minnesota, and its success in the legislature is largely due to full democratic control of the Senate, House, and Executive branches. The current initiative has been allocated $3 million for the fiscal year 2024/25. Funding will be disbursed on a need-based basis to 15 accredited institutions of higher education (IHE) for support services and on-campus (or campus affiliated) childcare. IHE leaders must now ensure that the funding takes concerns of equity, cultural relevance, and gender and race-based wage gaps into mind.

Keywords: student parent, childcare, support services, higher education, wage gap

Setting

More than one in five, or approximately four million, undergraduate students in the United States are parents or caregivers (Gault et al., 2020; Nadworny, 2019). In 2019 Minnesota was home to 19,000 undergraduate students (Whelan, 2020). Minnesota saw a significant drop in enrollment and re-enrollment of student parents during the COVID-19 pandemic (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023b). Across the country, 68% of student parents live at or below the federal poverty threshold (Emmett, 2023). Of student parents in Minnesota, 77% are women and 45% are nonwhite (Whelan, 2020). In Minnesota, single mothers with an associate degree are 48% less likely to live in poverty than those with a high school diploma, and single mothers with a bachelor's degree are 75% less likely to live in poverty than those with a high school diploma (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023b). The Minnesota legislature passed a bill called the Minnesota Student Parent Support Initiative (MSPSI) with appropriations to support student parents for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Scenario

In 2023, the Minnesota legislature approved the MSPSI, which will be in place the first time for the academic year of 2024-2025. While the MSPSI is a new program, it is not the first time that Minnesota has enacted it. The MSPSI first began in Minnesota in 2010 with federal funding from the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under the ACA, the Minnesota Department of Health was allocated funding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) for the MSPSI from 2010 to 2017 (Minnesota Department of Health, 2020).

The PAF that initially funded the MSPSI was founded with the mission to improve outcomes for expectant and parenting teens, mothers, fathers, and families (Office of Population Affairs, n.d.). As such, the MSPSI of 2010 aimed to improve the health, economic, and educational outcomes for parenting and expecting teens and adults enrolled in IHE, also referred to as student parents (Minnesota Department of Health, 2020). In 2017, the last year of the ACA funded MSPSI, the program served 974 unique student parents and 1,571 children. Of the 974 student parents served in 2017, an average of 70% re-enrolled the next semester (Minnesota Department of Health, 2020).

The current initiative, which provides need-based grant funding of five million dollars for 15 public or accredited private postsecondary institutions (up from nine institutions in the 2010 initiative) serving low-income students), has been informed by the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on student parents, as reenrollment rates for student parents dropped drastically during the pandemic (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023b). Funding will support student parents via new programs or through expanded services to integrate existing state, nonprofit, and federal programs. IHEs will be able to apply for funding to support programs such as “navigation and advising services, financial aid, parenting and child development educational opportunities, emergency funds, food and transportation support…family friendly activities and well-child visits” (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023c, p. 29). The current initiative also allocates 1.6 million dollars in year one to help IHEs expand on-campus affordable childcare services (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023c). The total amount allocated for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the MSPSI was three million dollars (Minnesota State Senate, 2023b).

Three key aspects affecting this demographic show need for further support of student parents in Minnesota. First, at the national level, student parents on average graduate with more debt than students without children or dependents (Gault et al., 2014). Secondly, this problem is compounded when looked at through an intersectional lens. Women of color in postsecondary education are more likely than other college students to have dependent children (Gault et al; 2014). Across the country 47% of Black students, 39.4% of Indigenous students, and 31.6% of Latina college students are mothers (Gault et al., 2014). The same holds true in Minnesota where student parents are more likely to be Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023c). According to a survey by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the most common challenge reported by student parents was finding time to study, followed closely by meeting financial obligations (Gault et al., 2014). If Minnesota wants to increase health, education, and economic outcomes for student parents and their children, it must address all challenges.

Stakeholders/Key Players

Student Parents: The Minnesota Office of Higher Education defines student parents as students who are pregnant or the parent of a young child (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023c). This may include people who are unmarried, married, and full or part time students.

Minnesota Legislators: Those who vote on the continuation and funding of the MSPSI.

College and University Staff: May be involved in supporting, administering, or organizing elements of MSPSI programs, the inclusion of which may impact their workloads. Leadership in these institutions may play a role in deciding whether to apply for MSPSI funding.

State program staff: Those who administer MSPSI at the state level, including special hire MSPSI employees and preexisting employees.

Taxpayers: Minnesota residents whose taxes support MSPSI funding.

Teaching Notes

Women of Color Disproportionately Impacted

Women of color in postsecondary education are more likely than other college students to have dependent children (Gault et al; 2014). Across the country 47% of Black students, 39.4% of Indigenous students, and 31.6% of Latina college students are mothers (Gault et al., 2014). The same holds true in Minnesota where student parents are more likely to be Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023c). This is, once again, augmented by pay gaps as Black women earned 70% of what White men made in 2022, while White women made 83% of what White men earned the same year (Kochhar, 2023).

Student Parents and Poverty

On the national scale, 68% of student parents live at or below the federal poverty threshold (Emmett, 2023). So, even though completing a postsecondary degree may make student parents about 50% less likely to live in poverty, the debt they incur while paying for childcare and tuition may have long-term negative impacts, especially for women who still make less money than men (Emmett, 2014; Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2023b).

Eligibility for Federal Benefits

While one of the goals of the MSPSI is to expand connections to federal support programs, this does not consider that many student parents are not eligible for some federal benefits. For example, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provides cash assistance to qualifying parents and families, but few student parents receive it (Gault et al., 2014). The reason for this is two-fold. First, eligibility for TANF in Minnesota requires “adjusted gross income at or below 200% of federal poverty guidelines,” U.S. citizenship, or non-citizenship but residence in an eligible household (Minnesota Department of Health, 2022). The gross income requirement is difficult to meet, and the citizenship requirement excludes many undocumented families. Minnesota also does not allow college attendance as an approved work activity for TANF. Therefore, student parents must choose to work to receive TANF and have less time for postsecondary education, or to forego TANF benefits in pursuit of education.

Childcare Providers

High levels of stress and low wages lead to elevated annual turnover rates. For example, the annual turnover rate in the childcare service industry in Minnesota is 14%, as compared to 9% in Minnesota overall (Casale et al., 2020). At the institutional level, leaders must ensure that an appropriate amount of received funding is allocated to providing a livable wage for service providers.

College-educated teachers working in early childhood care in Minnesota earned 28% less than those in primary education (Davis, 2021). This may be partially because in Minnesota, most childcare providers are women (Davis, 2021). As mentioned earlier, women make less money than men due to traditional patriarchal biases and the continuous undervaluing of what has historically been considered women’s work (Langdon & Klomegah, 2013).

Questions for Discussion/Analysis

How would you go about implementing/supporting this policy at your institution?
How can the State of Minnesota proceed to ensure that MSPSI is successful?
How can institutions proceed to ensure that MSPSI is successful?
What institutions would most benefit from MSPSI? What institutions may not recognize the benefit, but benefit, nonetheless?
Where will the burden of the programming fall? Is it an operational or financial burden, for example?
How may this policy impact those outside of higher education?
What are the limitations of this policy?
What are the hurdles to the implementation of this policy?
Who will this policy benefit? Who could it harm?
Who is left out?
What aspects of this policy will be most helpful to student parents? What may be harmful?
What are the risks of implementing such a policy?

References

Casale, O., Noel, Z., & Pearl, S. (2020). Early care and education: profile of an industry in crisis. Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/september-2020/early-care-education.jsp

Davis, E.E. (2021). Even before the pandemic, child care finances were broken (The Gender Policy Report Series, Issue 5). University of Minnesota. https://genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/even-before-the-pandemic-child-care-finances-were-broken/

Economic Policy Institute. (2020, October). Child care costs in the United States: The cost of child care in Minnesota. https://www.epi.org/child-care-costs-in-the-united-states/#/MN

Emmett, S. (2023, September 21). Sweeping wins in Minnesota include paid leave and student parent supports. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. https://iwpr.org/sweeping-wins-in-minnesota-include-paid-leave-and-student-parent-supports/

Gault, B., Holtzman, T., & Reichlin Cruse, L. (2020). Understanding the student parent experience: The need for improved data collection on parent status in higher education. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Understanding-the-Student-Parent-Experience_Final.pdf

Gault, B., Reichlin, L., & Román, S. (2014). College affordability for low-income adults: Improving returns on investment for families and society. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/publications/ideas_summit/College_Affordability_for_Low-Income_Adults.pdf

Kochhar, R. (2023). The enduring grip of the gender pay gap. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/01/the-enduring-grip-of-the-gender-pay-gap/

Langdon, D.L., & Klomegah, R. (2013). Gender wage gap and its associated factors: An examination of traditional gender ideology, education, and occupation. International Review of Modern Sociology, 39(2), 173-203. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43496468

Minnesota Department of Health. (2020). Minnesota student parent support initiative. https://www.health.state.mn.us/docs/people/womeninfants/studentparent/mspsifactsheet.pdf

Minnesota Department of Health. (2022). Federal temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) grant guidelines. https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/fhv/tanfgrantguide.html

Minnesota Office of Higher Education. (2023a). Office of Higher Education legislative session 2023. https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=2559#:~:text=Supporting%20Student%20Parents%20in%20Higher%20Ed%20As%20a,unique%20needs%20of%20parenting%20students%20across%20the%20state.

Minnesota Office of Higher Education. (2023b). Student parent support initiative: 2023 fact sheet. https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/docs/LegislativeSession/StudentParentSupportFactSheet2023_ADA.pdf

Minnesota Office of Higher Education. (2023c). 2024-25 Governor's biennial budget recommendations. https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/documents/budget/2024-25-biennial-budget-books/governors-recommendations-january/higher-education-office.pdf

Minnesota State Senate. (2023a). Journal of the Senate: Fiftieth day. https://www.senate.mn/journals/2023-2024/20230417050.pdf#page=3

Minnesota State Senate. (2023b). Journal of the Senate: Sixty-sixth day. https://www.senate.mn/journals/2023-2024/20230510066.pdf#page=142

Nadworny, E. (2019, October 24). Vital federal program to help parents in college is 'a drop in the bucket'. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/24/772018032/vital-federal-program-to-help-parents-in-college-is-a-drop-in-the-bucket

Office of Population Affairs. (n.d.). About the pregnancy assistance fund program. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs/pregnancy-assistance-fund/about-paf

Whelan, N. (2020). Undergraduate student parents in Minnesota. Minnesota Office of Higher Education. https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/pdf/Undergraduates_with_Children_2018-2019.pdf#:~:text=Last%20year%20about%20half%20of%20all%20adult%20learners,children%2C%20nearly%2019%2C000%20students%20in%20total%20%28Figure%201%29.

About the Author

Selvi M. Bunce (she/her) is the Associate Director of Leadership Giving at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. Selvi is also a doctoral student at the University of Colorado Denver studying Educational Equity in Higher Education. Selvi enjoys both academic and creative writing and has published work with Poetry Ireland Review, Mixed Mag, Brown Girl Magazine, the Rights Collective, and Academic Impressions. Her first book, a poetry book coauthored by Mimi Mutesa, titled “NAKED: The Honest Musings on 2 Brown Women”, was published by Black Spring Press Group in 2022.