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NASPA Knowledge Community
Adult Learners and Students With Children
Calendar of Upcoming Events
National Adult Learners ( Non-Traditional ) Students Week is November 4-8
Regional Conferences in Fall
Region IV-East — November 3-5 Skokie , IL Region IV-West — November 5-7 Hot Springs , AR Regions V and VI — November 6-9 Salt Lake City
Be sure to follow on Facebook and Twitter for Regional Meet-up infromation
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As a student affairs professional , there are many options for engaging with the teen parents in your community . Many teen parents share other under-represented population characteristics , such as being first generation college attendees , low-income students , women , and students of color . Even if there isn ’ t a program on your campus specifically geared toward student parents , you can help connect these young moms and dads to other programs serving under-represented populations such as TRiO , student groups ( student parent , non-traditional , commuter , other interest groups ), NASPA ’ s Adult Learners and Students with Children ( ALSC ) Knowledge Community , and college prep programs such as Upward Bound or other online college prep programs . You can also locate student parent support programs in your region or check out the websites of similar programs across the nation , which often have encouraging success stories , scholarship tips , and other great resources that can be utilized by student parents anywhere . You could also connect with local teen parent programs to help organize and host a field trip to your college campus . Other options include helping to organize a career day , finding successful former teen parents already on your campus and introducing them to local teen parent programs , and maybe holding a panel of successful former teen parents or starting a volunteer program where the former TPs can act as classroom presenters or mentors to the current TPs . Finally , make sure that your school has admissions representatives assigned to local teen parent programs and try to have materials available for these teens , such as information on scholarships , college prep assistance , FAFSA and other financial aid information .
With a little effort , well-researched resources , and a lot of passion for young families , anyone can create a successful teen parent outreach program . As a society , we need to start talking to all teen parents as if we expect them to go to college , not as if we assume they won ’ t , and the earlier we can start talking to them about their post-high school plans the better . Teen parents and low income single mothers are becoming more commonplace at colleges and universities , and those of us working with these populations on campus are on the cutting edge of an exciting new “ normal ” in higher education .