Student Parents and HIPs: Missing Out on High-Impact Practices

Abstract High Impact Practices (HIPs) have become a flashpoint of efforts to create transformative higher education experiences that lead not only to greater success while in college but also result in life-long educational and personal benefits. In this article, we identify a growing category of students who are systematically excluded from engaging in many types of HIPs: student parents. Based on a survey of both student parents and non-parents at a regional comprehensive public university in the upper Midwest, we demonstrate, through both qualitative and quantitative data, the consistent barriers that student parents face in accessing HIPs as well as the self-help strategies and campus resources they employ to mitigate these challenges. We conclude by discussing implications and offering recommendations on both the institutional and individual levels designed to change the current status quo. On a theoretical level, the article brings together concerns and insights of two types of scholarship: higher education literature on HIPs and the research on equity and inclusion in higher education, especially advocacy on behalf of student parents. We find that previous studies of HIPs did not discuss this demographic, and it remains underserved in the new educational efforts to provide all students with richer and more impactful learning experiences.