Beyond the Classroom at Dallas College: Documenting a Framework for Student Parents’ College Success

Student parents make up a substantial share of community college enrollment, yet the support that exists is often dispersed across offices. In this article, we review and summarize research on the importance of student services for community college student parents. We then document how one institution, Dallas College, is creating a data infrastructure to identify student parent characteristics and needs to build holistic support programs (e.g., drop‐in childcare, scholarships, benefits assistance) that empower student parents for college success. Because the Center for Student Parent Success remains in development, we document institutional intent and design logic as these initiatives unfold. By centering educational equity for student parents with diverse identities, this article provides practical implications for community colleges seeking to build comparable capacity.