This website provides comprehensive resources for families who are parenting through the college years. Content is designed to provide parents of college students with information and tools to support and empower successful transitions to college, increasing responsibility, and good decision-making skills. Topics included are listed in the left-hand column throughout the website. Downward arrows 
will provide additional navigation information.
COVID-19 Updates
As nearly all colleges and universities transitioned to remote learning during March 2020 and subsequently spent the summer planning for an uncertain fall semester, we wanted to understand how parents of college students were experiencing these decisions and transitions. We designed a study to understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the family’s role in their students’ college experiences.
The Department of Family Social Science and Minnesota Extension at the University of Minnesota partnered with the professional organization AHEPPP: Family Engagement in Higher Education (AHEPPP) to recruit and survey parents from across the country to understand the impact that the pandemic has made on the family’s role in their students’ college experience.
We surveyed parents twice during 2020 and once in 2021.
Click here to read the summary report from Summer 2020.
Click here to read the summary report from Fall 2020.
Click here to read the summary report from Fall 2021.
Right now, students and families are struggling to make decisions about college in an environment of rapid change and uncertainty:
- Students about to start their first year of college are making hard decisions about whether to attend classes in person or online.
- Current students are facing similar choices about attending in person or online. Many are thinking about majors and career options in terms of in-person vs. online work experiences.”
- Parents are trying to measure the cost of college against the value their student will be receiving. If students are living at home, are they receiving a “college experience?” How much does that matter?
The best thing families can do is watch for updates and wait for guidance. Encourage your student to look for notices from their college and university and respond to any instructions they receive.
Whether students are on campus or learning online, parents can encourage them to focus on academics and find ways to connect to campus. This website provides information that students and families can use as talking points and action steps, no matter where your student is within the college experience.