Best Colleges for Single Parents and Students With Children

It’s never too late to pursue an education, no matter your stage of life or your young ones’ stages of life.

Going to college with children may sound difficult. However, colleges nationwide offer options and resources to help you succeed while balancing a job, schoolwork, and time with your family.

If you decide to pursue higher education as a parent, you’ll join the many college students — about one-fifth of U.S. undergraduates — who are raising children while in college.

Colleges can help you succeed on and off campus through class accommodations, childcare facilities, financial aid, and, sometimes, housing.

Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.

We’ve found 13 colleges that care for their student parents through programs, resource guidance, housing, and childcare aid.

Since 1987, Champlain’s Single Parents Program has served Vermont student parents through a tuition scholarship, a “Rainy Day” fund for unexpected expenses, networking, and programs.

Champlain also partners with organizations to help you with food insecurity and financial assistance. It also offers a free annual membership to ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, a local museum with many family events.

If you want to live on a college campus with your child, try the all-women’s College of Saint Mary.

The Mothers Living & Learning program places you and your child ages 6 weeks to 12 years old in Madonna Hall, a suite-style dorm with community lounges, kitchens, and free laundry services. While you’re in class, you can send your child to the Spellman Child Development Center for children 6 weeks to 5 years old.

Once you’re in the program, you’ll be required to take a one-credit-hour course called “The Single Successful Mother.” This course covers the systemic topics relating to single motherhood while providing a space to make relationships with other students and attend events.

The college also gives guidance on resources like child support services, a pediatrician, and childcare.

Endicott’s Single Parent Services is a one-stop environment for student parents to get access to career and academic coaching, financial aid for tuition and textbooks, mentorships, and workshops.

Endicott also celebrates student parents through an annual Parent Scholar Recognition Ceremony and dedicated Parent Cafes to connect you with other parents.

Ferris State offers the West Campus Apartments if you want to live on campus while having your own apartment. These are within walking distance to classes, parking, and the Early Learning Center for children ages 1 month to 12 years old.

If you’re new to the area, check the university’s website for local children’s sports, family activities, after-school programs, parent recreation, and local schools.

If you’re looking for a school to send your child to, Northeastern University Oakland has three different schools for children, each offering distinctive schooling:

The campus is also child-friendly. Students can visit the Parenting Lounge to relax, study, and play with their children. The university’s food pantry is open to any Northeastern community member, regardless of need.

Misericordia’s Women With Children Program provides free housing, free on-campus children’s meals, financial assistance, and social, academic, and family enrichment programs to full-time undergraduate single mothers with children ages 2-8. One requirement is that you have a reliable car.

While there isn’t childcare on campus, the university grants a 40% childcare subsidy for eligible families at local childcare centers.

On campus, you’ll find library room 066, a parent-friendly study space with a playroom next door. A walk away is St. Kate’s Food Shelf, where you can get fresh groceries.

If you’re looking for more resources, St. Catherine’s staff social worker can meet with you to discuss parenting services, affordable off-campus housing resources, and public transportation discounts.

A few resources include the need-based Postsecondary Child Care Grant and Rec Check, a free after-school program for St. Paul residents.

At Texas Woman’s University (TWU), you can get involved with Student Pioneers Also Raising Kids (SPARK), a student-led organization that promotes parent voices by sharing financial, social, and academic resources. SPARK works with TWU to host academic and social events for student parents.

TWU has no on-campus daycare, but the Campus Alliance for Resource Education (CARE) office can help you find free pre-K and childcare centers. CARE can also help you apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and the Woman, Infants, Children (WIC) program to protect the health of low-income families at nutrition risk.

If you want free, accessible childcare, try the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-Greensboro). The Child Care Education Program (CCEP) offers free childcare to UNC-Greensboro students with children. For at least the next four years, CCEP will focus on enrolling single-parent, Pell Grant-eligible students, but the CCEP team encourages all student parents to apply.

The University of Michigan has one of the most extensive support systems for student parents. You can visit the on-campus children’s centers, have in-home daycare, or have a U-M Family Helper, a helper part of U-M’s community, come help your family for a short time.

You can live in the Northwood townhomes if you prefer to live on campus. U-M offers scholarships and emergency funding if you need help affording college.

The university also has a ton of fun for your kids to enjoy. The Wolverine Kids Club is a sports fan club for students in sixth grade and younger, where students can get free tickets to certain events and fun merchandise. The university hosts other kids’ activities and places to visit, like museums, planetariums, observatories, and summer camps.

The university boasts one of the country’s oldest and largest student-parenting programs. The Student Parent Help Center offers two scholarships, one for former teen parents and another for undergraduate student parents with “exemplary” academic performance.

You can also apply for the Postsecondary Child Care Assistance Grant for qualifying in-state students. If you don’t meet the criteria, the university offers the Student Fees Child Care Assistance Grant.

You can enjoy an undergraduate parent lounge with a computer lab and community space, family-friendly events, and the Parents As Students Support (PASS) group.

The University of Washington has developed several resources for parents, most notable of which is its Childcare Assistance Program. The university will cover the cost of childcare for your child from newborn through 12 years old if you meet eligibility requirements.

If you want to live on campus and don’t want to worry about where to live outside of the school year, Wilson’s Single Parent Scholar Program ensures you have year-round housing in Prentis Hall. It’s for single parents with up to two children ages 20 months to 10 years old. Wilson doesn’t have an on-campus childcare program but will subsidize the cost of childcare off campus.