Parent Involvement in Higher Education : Understanding the Relationship among Students, Parents, and the Institution

Helicopter parents have landed on our college campuses!

This monograph examines parental involvement in higher education by looking at the history of the relationship between students and institutions and institutional responses to this phenomenon. It explores:

1. alternative theoretical frameworks that highlight the benefits of strong parental relationships
2. variables of gender, race and socioeconomic class and how they inform the student-parent relationship
3. implications for practice and suggestions for policy

In this monograph, the authors encourage higher education researchers and practitioners to take their own college experience out of the equation as they consider student-family relationships today. They provide the analysis and background information necessary to think holistically about parents and their involvement so that all parents are included in our institutional efforts, not just the ones making all the noise.

This is the sixth issue in the 33rd volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.