FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2021
Contact: Juan Ramiro Sarmiento
(785) 760-6567 | JuanRamiro.Sarmiento@younginvincibles.org

Governor Pritzker Signs YI-Backed Student Parents Bill Into Law

The New Law Will Gather Critical Data On Education Barriers and Outcomes for Student Parents Across Illinois

(Chicago, IL) – Last Friday, July 9th, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Student Parent Data Collection Act into law. The legislation will require public colleges and universities in Illinois to collect data on students who are also parents to better understand the challenges confronting this population. Only limited data exist, and a rough estimate indicates 14 percent of all Illinois college students are parents.

In response, Lily Rocha, Midwest Regional Director for Young Invincibles, issued the following statement:

“Obtaining higher education is challenging enough, but it is twice the commitment and twice the cost if you are also a parent. While roughly 14 percent of all Illinois college students juggle school and parenthood, we do not know how many student parents there really are in our state or have a full account of the unique challenges confronting them.

From national data, we know that students of color—especially Black, Latina, and Native American women—are more likely to be parents than their white counterparts. We suspect that this reality is the case in Illinois, but we cannot be sure without more data. And if this statement is accurate, then by not counting and serving student parents, we are allowing inequities in our higher education system to persist.

Thankfully, on Friday, Illinois took a major step forward.

We are thrilled to see this bill signed into law and commend Governor J.B Pritzker for his commitment to student success. The data collected because of this new law will help to better target resources to student parents, identify effective support programs that do work and help institutions improve conditions for their students.

This victory would not have been possible without the hard work of our coalition partners: Illinois Action for Children, Partnership for College Completion, ReadyNation, and Women Employed. YI Midwest is also deeply grateful to our legislative sponsors, State Representative Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) for their leadership and support of student parents.”