Top Colleges for Students with Children

If you're a parent who wants to start college, then you have more considerations than the average student. They say that raising a child is itself a full-time job. And while most parents can balance their jobs with looking after their children, attending college has its own unique challenges. You have less spending money. You ...

Updated on November 22, 2022

The Colleges Make Learning and Childcare Easier

If you're a parent who wants to start college, then you have more considerations than the average student. They say that raising a child is itself a full-time job. And while most parents can balance their jobs with looking after their children, attending college has its own unique challenges. You have less spending money. You may be moving your family to somewhere new. You may need to get your own job on top of studying and child raising. And you have to hope for good child care facilities in the local area.

The above are just a few of the concerns facing parents who are returning to college. But many parents that want to return to the world of education are doing it precisely for their children. It's to get a better job, with better pay that will help their children up until and during their own college years. If this is what you want, then going to college should definitely be something that you're dedicated to.

And, ideally, the responsibility of child care should be something that the college helps with. College is expensive, and you're paying for the best education that you can possibly get. Included in this fee should be services that allow you to learn without worrying about your child. Also, some colleges will naturally be in more child-friendly places than others. So which are the ones that both help students with parenting and are located in the ideal place for you? This list will highlight the 30 best in America.

Hopefully, at least one of the colleges below will be your perfect choice for college attendance. Whether you're a single parent, are married, are male or are female, the colleges below let everyone have a high-quality education and do things to make students' children happy throughout. However, even if none of the choices below is the right fit for you, this list should still be helpful, as it will show you some of the things that you have to look for in your own college choices. If the place that you're thinking of attending doesn't have any comparable programs in place for parents, then you can address this to them, and see if they can provide similar assistance.

Methodology

There are a range of sources online that discuss studying as a parent. Our list has thoroughly analyzed those lists and compiled a consensus of opinion. We've chosen to highlight this for you by sorting the best performers into a descending ranking of the 30 most impressive parent-friendly colleges. The colleges with the most references across sources and with the demonstrable best student parent services perform the highest on our list.

The sources that we've used are as follows:

US News, Child-Friendly College Programs for Parents: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/03/23/child-friendly-college-programs-for-parentsSingle Mother Guide, Child-friendly Colleges for Single Parents: https://singlemotherguide.com/colleges-for-single-parents/NPR, When The Students On Campus Have Kids Of Their Own: https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/18/502003007/when-the-students-on-campus-have-kids-of-their-ownNation Swell, 5 Ways Colleges Help Single Parents Earn Degrees: https://nationswell.com/5-ways-colleges-help-single-parents-earn-degrees/Study.com, Best Schools for Student Parents: https://study.com/articles/10_Best_Schools_for_Student_Parents.htmlHigher Education Today, Building Family-Friendly Campuses: Strategies to Promote College Success Among Student Parents: https://www.higheredtoday.org/2017/06/12/building-family-friendly-campuses-strategies-promote-college-success-among-student-parents/Christian Post, The 20 Best Colleges for Single Parents: https://m.blogs.christianpost.com/guest-views/the-20-best-colleges-for-single-parents-12448/Institute for Women's Policy Research, Prepping Colleges for Parents: https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/wpallimport/files/iwpr-export/publications/Support%20for%20Student%20Parents%20Paper_MAIN_6%2017%2015%20clean.pdfCenter for American Progress, The Imperative to Support Single Mothers in College: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/news/2018/07/19/453783/imperative-support-single-mothers-college/Learn How To Become, Support Guide for Single Moms in College: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/news/2018/07/19/453783/imperative-support-single-mothers-college/

On top of ranking the strongest performers on the above lists, we've also performed our own research into the parent-friendly activities that the colleges have implemented to ensure that what each article states is the truth. Overall, this must be the internet's most comprehensive list of parent-friendly colleges to date.

Our ranking is below:

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