Parental involvement can be helpful even at the college level

The idea of parental involvement may seem like it is limited to K-12 students, but new research shows that it can also apply at the college level as well — and its not always a negative.

According to a new report by NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, some 88 percent of parents surveyed indicated that they had been either somewhat or very involved during a portion or all of their child’s college career. The data is based off surveys sent out in the fall of 2007 and again in 2011 to parents and students at schools across the country that were both public and private as well as large and small in size. The report’s authors do warn that the results come from a group of respondents that are disproportionately white and at higher income levels, so the results cannot be taken universally.

Nonetheless, officials affiliated with the report say the findings indicate that parental involvement generally had a positive effect on students at the college level.

“In our sample, we see that closeness is not necessarily dependence and students in our sample who are close to their parents seemingly ostensibly show development that is consistent or on par with national norms,” Alicia Peralta, NASPA’s graduate assistant for educational programs, told Inside HigherEd.

Most of the time, parental involvement at the college level decreased over time, with 43 percent of parents reporting somewhat of a decrease and 13 percent saying their activity decreased significantly. Only 8 percent of parents said their involvement increased over time.

Typically, parental involvement in a college student’s life is prompted by a specific happening and is not due to a parent being overbearing or incapable of letting their child grow up and go out on their own. The leading reason for parental involvement was tuition and financial aid assistance, with 24 percent saying they got involved to help their child in that area. Issues surrounding safety and health were also leading reasons for parental involvement at the college level.

“We found a theme in our qualitative data that when parents felt that the institution was not showing appropriate care and concern, that was a time when they decided to intervene,” Patricia A. Rissmeyer, vice president for student affairs at Boston’s Emmanuel College, explained to Inside HigherEd.