The Student Parent HELP (Higher Education for Low Income People) was established as a program of the University of Minnesota, General College in 1967. Founded as an academic support program for low income students entering the University of Minnesota, the center eventually evolved into a program serving only low income students with children. As other programs were established in the college and on the greater campus to address the needs of students of color, and other traditionally underserved student populations, the HELP Center began to address the specific needs of student parents exclusively in the late 1980s. In the spring of 2006, the HELP Center became a part of the greater University of Minnesota, Office of Student Affairs.

HELP Center Today

From its inception in the 1960s, the Student Parent HELP Center has been a unique programming entity within the greater higher education community. Though interest in student parent services is currently on the rise nationally, the HELP Center has consistently served as a model for delivering comprehensive services to students with children for more than four decades. The HELP Center continues to work to eliminate the challenges student parents face while completing their first BA degrees. To achieve this end, the HELP Center has developed a unique, “one-stop shopping” model to deliver a broad range of services to undergraduate, University of Minnesota students with children. Staffed by licensed social workers, the program provides a comprehensive range of services that includes but is not limited to: a weekly Parent Academic Support and Community Building Group, child care assistance, emergency financial assistance, access to academic scholarships, academic and family based advocacy, resource and referral, various family friendly events and activities, counseling and advocacy, all within an academically supportive, family-friendly centrally-located facility. All programs and services of the SPHC are designed to promote access, retention, and academic success for University Of Minnesota undergraduate students with children. The HELP Center also serves as a training site for master’s level social work interns each year and provides various outreach programming to teen parents and other community groups within the Twin Cities metro area.