Abstract:
Given the profile of its nontraditional students, community colleges have invested heavily in campus child care centers and child care services. However, it is unclear what impact such services have on the student outcomes for certain parent cohorts. The problem this study addressed is the need to determine if there is a relationship between community college campus child care (CCCCC) centers and the academic success of single mothers. Research into single mother child care support needs was a reasonable way to identify key support services which enable single mothers to achieve academic success. The study investigated single mother academic success related to, estimated average grade, grade improvement, persistence, and credits earned. CCCCC parenting support services and child care availability factors were investigated. The study employed a quantitative research methodology. Survey data were solicited from CCCCC directors and single mothers associated with 108 CCCCC members of the National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers (NCCCC). In order to analyze the CCCCC factors that have influenced the academic success of single mother students descriptive and correlation statistics were used when analyzing survey data. The major findings of the study were related to campus child care availability factors--child care on campus, the numbers of parent support services available, and the number of available child care hours single mothers reported using. Significant correlations were found between CCCCC availability factors and grade improvement, persistence, and credits earned. The study's contribution was a focus on identifying CCCCC availability factors that influence the academic success of single mother students. The study also provided insight to research on low-income single mothers, a large and growing cohort of heads of households in our society. These findings have implications for community college leadership related to access and persistence support for all nontraditional students particularly women and single mothers.
