When she walks across the commencement stage this May, with her diploma in hand, it will be a surreal moment for Omnia Marawan.
At 33-years-old, she is a single parent, a full-time employee, and a full-time student who routinely takes 19 credits a semester. Most nights, she doesn’t begin her homework until her 10-year-old son is asleep.
“By 9 p.m. is when I start doing my homework and studying until like one o’clock in the morning,” she says. “And then I repeat.”
In many circumstances, finishing her University of Minnesota degree would be a near-impossible task. She easily could have fallen through the tracks or given up along her academic journey. But thanks to the University’s Student Parent HELP Center, Marawan is on track to graduate in four years.
When she thinks about the center’s impact on her college career, she is blunt.
“Honestly, no, I would not be able to do my schooling without this program,” she says. “I don’t know what would have happened.”
A leader in student-parent support
The Student Parent HELP Center is the longest-running program of its kind in the country.
Founded in 1967 and refocused exclusively on student parents in 1984, the center has been assisting hundreds of mothers and fathers in achieving their dream of a college degree. The center offers financial assistance, community spaces, child care assistance, family-friendly activities and more to University of Minnesota Twin Cities students who are parents.
Susan Warfield, who has led the center for decades, says these types of students are much more prominent on campus than you would think.
“The biggest misconception is that people don’t think student parents exist at four-year universities,” Warfield says. “Faculty will say, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever had a student parent in my class,’ when in fact 26 percent of all college students nationally are student parents.”
Many student parents don’t self-identify, Warfield says. Some may fear judgment for early parenting, while others may be too busy to seek help.
For Marawan, the most important support came in the form of child care assistance. Students can apply for and receive grants to help in their everyday lives, with some grants covering child care assistance or basic needs and child enrichment.
“I had to pay nannies to help me figure out my life,” she says. “It was at least $300 to $400 a week. I don’t even make that much in a week.”
Marawan’s academic program requires evening classes, with many finishing at 9 p.m. As a single parent, with her son's after-school program closing at 6 p.m., Marawan needed child care assistance to make things work.
Without help from the Student Parent HELP Center, she says, she would have dropped out.
“They helped me pay for after-school programs for my kid,” she says. “And if I needed a sitter for night classes, they helped with that, too.”
When her son was hospitalized with pneumonia and influenza, the center’s emergency grant kept her afloat.
“I had to pay about $4,000 for his medical treatment,” Marawan says. “That money was supposed to go toward new tires for my car. The emergency grant helped me get the tires so I could move around safely.”
Stories like Marawan’s are common.
One student, for instance, became the guardian to his younger brother overnight, Warfield says.
“We met with that student every week for two hours for a year,” she says. “He would literally say that we were miracle workers.”
Building a community
Beyond financial support, the center offers something student parents often lack: community.
“They tend to want socialization with other parents who can relate to their experience,” Warfield says. “That community can’t be understated.”
The center hosts family events, open houses and an annual celebration honoring student parents’ achievements. For many families, these events are experiences they could not otherwise afford.
One such event is the Gifts for Little Gophers, a program where children can get holiday gifts.
“Through these activities, I was able to connect with fellow student parents, exchange experiences and learn from others who are facing similar challenges,” says Abay Zhussupbekov, an international student who has used the center’s services. “These connections have been valuable for building a supportive academic and social network during my studies.”
The center’s impact extends far beyond academics. Research shows that student parents who complete degrees substantially reduce their likelihood of returning to public assistance. Their children are also more likely to attend and complete college, which can lead to family economic stability for generations.
One of those students is Akiyra Terry, a sociology and criminology graduate of the University. Terry’s mother attended the University of Minnesota when Akiyra was a child.
She remembers her mom taking her to the Student Parent HELP Center after daycare or school to print out assignments. Her mother also received child care grants with help from the center.
So when it was time to get an internship as part of her social work studies, she applied and was hired by the Student Parent HELP Center. The experience working there was a full-circle moment and changed her career trajectory completely.
“When I first applied to the social work program, I was set on becoming a substance abuse counselor,” Terry says. “As time went on, I saw the work that Susan [Warfield], Na King and Melanie Soland put in to support our student parents and the amount of policy advocacy that’s done to ensure the success of student parents. It’s inspired me to pursue a career that allows me to provide mental health care if I want, but also work at the state level with policy work.”
Terry is now pursuing a master’s degree in social work from Augsburg University.
“In my family, we’re very adamant on giving back to the people that helped us get to where we are,” Terry says. “I wouldn’t have gone down the path I did if my mom couldn’t complete her degree.”
Defining success
The academic performance of student parents is often exceptional.
“We just had a scholarship competition,” Warfield says. “The GPAs were astounding. Most were in the 3.7 to 3.8 range.”
Marawan is one of those academic successes.
“My GPA has been 4.0 since I got into the program,” she says. “Before, when I was a non-degree student, it wasn’t like that. This program helps because you can say, ‘Maybe I don’t have to pick up this shift. I can study instead.’”
For Marawan, her son doesn’t fully grasp the sacrifices that have gone into his mother’s degree. But he sees her working and building a future for both of them.
“He’s told me, ‘Mom, I just feel like you throw me at babysitters,’” she says. “And it sucks to hear that. But I tell him, ‘This is why I want you to study. So you won’t have to worry about the things Mommy is worrying about.’”
For her, and for the student parents like her, the Student Parent HELP Center is not just a campus resource. It is the difference between stopping out and graduating, between instability and opportunity, between repeating cycles and breaking them.
“It helps me be a parent and be a student,” Marawan says. “I couldn’t do this without them.”
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