Parenting Students at For-Profits Face the Highest Rates of Homelessness

Parenting students are some of the most tenacious individuals you will ever meet. They juggle coursework, jobs, and taking care of their children, often all at once. As our previous blogs in this series have shown, hundreds of thousands of the roughly 3 million undergraduate student parents navigate these challenges while they and their children persevere through homelessness.

Parenting students are enrolled at every kind of college: public nonprofit institutions like community colleges and state universities; private nonprofit colleges, which are often more selective and expensive; and private for-profit colleges, which operate more like businesses than other types of college. These differences in institutional type matter, not only in terms of access and affordability, but also in how well students’ basic needs–like housing–are supported.

Private for-profit colleges enroll about 20 percent of all undergraduate student parents, according to an analysis of 2020 NPSAS data by the SPARK Collaborative. In contrast, only 5% of all undergraduates attend for-profit institutions, according to NCES.

Despite enrolling a disproportionately high share of parenting students, for-profit colleges offer fewer of the basic needs supports, such as housing assistance or child care referrals, that are common at public and nonprofit colleges, as research from RAND shows. This lack of investment has consequences for the disproportionate share of parenting students who experience homelessness while enrolled at for-profit colleges, according to nationally representative data from the Department of Education.

Our analysis of NPSAS data reveals a stark trend: rates of homelessness among parenting students are highest at private for-profit institutions when compared to their closest sector counterparts: 9.0% at private for-profit 2-year colleges compared to 7.3% at public community colleges, and 6.8% at private for-profit 4-year colleges compared to 6.1% at public 4-year colleges and 4.3% at private nonprofit 4-year colleges.

It’s not just who for-profit colleges serve, it’s what they fail to provide. These institutions operate under a fundamentally different financial model that prioritizes revenue over student well-being. While they promise convenience and speed to entice students to enroll, that creates serious trade-offs, as shown by representative survey research from Public Agenda on the experiences and perspectives of for-profit college alumni.

Despite enrolling an estimated 628,000 parenting students—around 20% of the overall undergraduate student parent population—for-profit colleges fall short when it comes to offering the kinds of support that help students meet their basic needs and remain enrolled.

For-profit colleges typically lack the support infrastructure that helps parenting students stay enrolled–resources that are more common at public institutions. While public colleges, especially community colleges, often provide access to food pantries, emergency aid, public benefit navigation assistance, and housing referrals, such services are far less common in the for-profit sector.

For-profit colleges typically charge higher tuition while offering minimal institutional aid. Many operate with limited student support services, rely heavily on online instruction, and often lack the physical campus environments that help students access vital services for themselves and their children.

At two-year for-profit colleges, 9.0% of parenting students reported experiencing homelessness in the 30 days prior to the survey—impacting more than 8,600 students. At four-year for-profit colleges, 6.8% of parenting students reported recent homelessness, representing more than 27,000 individuals.

These elevated rates highlight the consequences of inadequate support at for-profit colleges compared to their public and nonprofit counterparts.

For-profit institutions also disproportionately enroll Black and Latino students, groups that are themselves more likely to be parenting students, according to analysis of data by the SPARK Collaborative. This overrepresentation is driven in part by targeted advertising, as documented by the Brookings Institution, and by recruitment practices that focus on communities with limited access to better-resourced institutions, as shown by the Student Borrower Protection Center. While for-profits often frame themselves as expanding access for underserved communities, access alone is not enough. Without meaningful investment in advising, housing, child care, and basic needs services, these institutions fall short of supporting the success of these students.

The result: parenting students at for-profit colleges are more likely to leave with debt but no degree, a pattern reflected in research from the Education Trust on for-profit outcomes. This compounds students' risk of homelessness and perpetuates cycles of economic insecurity.

While nonprofit colleges and universities are not perfect when it comes to supporting parenting students, many are notably taking steps to address student parent homelessness head-on. Examples include:

• Long Beach City College, a public two-year college in California, offers a suite of services through its Basic Needs Program, including emergency rental assistance, case management, and even a Safe Parking Program for students living in their cars. The program also provides access to showers, Wi-Fi, and other essentials, centering dignity and care in its approach.
• Misericordia University, a private nonprofit four-year university in Pennsylvania, stands out for its Ruth Matthews Bourger Women with Children program. This initiative provides fully subsidized, year-round family housing for low-income parenting students, including furnished two-bedroom units in shared homes with kitchens, playrooms, and study spaces.
• Texas Woman’s University, a public four-year university, integrates affordable family housing into campus life through its Lowry Woods Community. These on-campus apartments are reserved for students with children, helping them access stable housing while staying connected to academic and campus resources.

These examples demonstrate what’s possible when institutions invest in holistic, student-centered support.

To reduce homelessness among parenting students, we need coordinated action:

• Increase federal and state investment in public colleges and universities, particularly to expand housing and child care options.
• Strengthen consumer protections to safeguard students, especially parenting students, from predatory practices in the for-profit sector.
• Expand awareness of the financial and academic risks tied to institutional choice, so students can make informed decisions.

Ultimately, this isn’t just about services, it’s about outcomes that shape families’ futures. A review of over two decades of research on for-profit colleges by Stephanie Cellini has shown that the earnings of for-profit college graduates are lower or, in some instances, closely similar to the earnings for college graduates in other sectors. For parenting students, that distinction can mean the difference between long-term stability and continued economic vulnerability, even with a postsecondary credential.

Parenting students shouldn’t have to choose between their education and having a place to sleep. Yet, at too many institutions, particularly for-profit institutions, that is the grim reality. By investing in institutions that prioritize holistic, family-friendly supports and holding others accountable for harmful practices, we can build a higher education system where student parents thrive, not just survive.

*This blog was updated on July 17, 2025 to add additional citations.