Evaluation of resources for pregnant and parenting students in higher education at Ball State University

Abstract

Pregnant and parenting students are a demographic that often goes unnoticed and if forgotten about, creates an environment of isolation for them. They require additional resources from colleges and universities that are often not met. If these resources are available at these institutions, pregnant and parenting students often have trouble locating them or even who to contact with questions about resources. Through a literature review, a handful of studies have been found examine the needs of the pregnant and parenting student population. From these studies, several challenges and needs have been revealed for this demographic. These challenges include childcare availability, accommodations to the academic environment, flexibility in class options and scheduling, financial aid, affordable housing, transportation and parking, physical accommodations, and accessible information about resources. After evaluating these problems through other case studies and reports, this thesis evaluates the current resources at Ball State University provided for pregnant and parenting students. I then address how these current resources address the established challenges and needs of pregnant and parenting students. Overall, Ball State provides resources that address most of this demographics’ concerns, but I propose several solutions to improve upon the resources they already have and provide additional resources that will help their pregnant and parenting students.