The NEED Podcast

Guiding Parents To Boost Student Success: How Families Fuel College Dreams

• Dr. Marcia Sturdivant • Episode 6

Share episode

What Role Do Families Play In Student Success?

The path to college is rarely a straight line, and the strongest guideposts often come from home. We sit down together to unpack how families shape student success through steady encouragement, smart financial decisions, and everyday mentoring that builds confidence long before an application is submitted. With clear data showing parents as the leading influence on college choice, we focus on what actually moves the needle: early engagement, flexible communication, and respect for the wider village supporting each student.

We share practical ways busy households can plug in without burning out, from short, focused phone calls to private video check‑ins and evening community meetings that fit real schedules. You’ll hear how parental involvement boosts curiosity and academic performance while reducing truancy, and why sharing family stories—successes, setbacks, and cultural roots—gives students a roadmap for resilience. We also broaden the definition of “family,” recognizing the vital roles of aunts, uncles, mentors, and community leaders, and explain how practitioners earn trust by honoring that ecosystem.

Money worries come up fast, so we demystify the financial aid process and the FAFSA. Think of it like a tax return: detailed but doable with help. We outline key documents, common pitfalls, and how to compare aid offers beyond the headline numbers, giving first‑gen households the clarity to make strong choices. The throughline is partnership—parents, students, and practitioners working in sync to turn potential into progress and access into achievement.

If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a family in your circle, and leave a review to help more students find the support they deserve. Have a question we didn’t cover? Send it our way and join the village building bright futures.

To learn more about NEED visit:
https://www.NEEDLD.org
NEED
429 Fourth Avenue, 20th FL, Suite 2000
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-566-2760



SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Need Podcast, highlighting students, partners, and advocates. Presented by me and hosted by Dr. Marcia Sturtevent, President and CEO, this series highlights the impact of mentoring, philanthropy, and collaborative partnerships that empower students' triumphant entry into and progression through higher education. Whether you're applying for scholarships or supporting the mission, you'll find insights that inform, inspire, and empower.

SPEAKER_02:

From encouragement to accountability, discover how families shape the academic journey and long-term success of students. Welcome everyone. I'm Julie Schwenzer, co-host and producer in the studio with Dr. Marcia Sturdevant, president and CEO of Need. It's a pleasure to be here with you, Dr. Sturtevant.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, it's my pleasure. Good afternoon.

SPEAKER_02:

Good afternoon. So let's dive in. What role do families play in student success?

SPEAKER_00:

They play an essential essential role, and primarily in three areas. First, in terms of giving social and emotional support to their children. And secondly, because college costs, right? So they have to be involved because of the financial dependency of students once they're when they first begin to enter college. And the other area is being able to help students with influencing their decision making. And when we query students about who was the most influential person in your life that made you want to go to college or in your decision making, and it's been, you know, the data has shown that it's about 69% of students report that their parents were the most important element in their college decision making. So for practitioners, what that translates into is that you can't ignore the parent. You have to include the parent if you're going to be successful in your own intervention strategies. Parents are essential and they should be engaged. We have to do parent engagement early on in the intervention strategy so that we can help these students go on to college. The strategies for engaging parents have to be a little bit different than it was in the past. There used to be like the home visit or you know, the phone call. The phone call is still very important, but parents are so busy right now, and how we communicate with each other is different. You know, social media is important. We can engage that way. Certainly we can do phone calls. We can have private chats, you know, through Zoom or something like that. Because we have to make it also convenient for the parent where it doesn't become yet another task or another burden to the parent while they're trying to navigate this very difficult process of college entry. And we have done some pretty unique things, you know, like community meetings, meetings with parents as a whole on their time, not our time. And that oftentimes is, you know, in the evening. So we have to be flexible when we're trying to engage parents. There has to be a partnership in the parent, the practitioner, and the child so that we can all work together on behalf of the students.

SPEAKER_02:

What are some particular examples of how parents can instill you know motivation or confidence in their kids as they you know go through life?

SPEAKER_00:

Right, that's a very good question because what we know is that when parents are involved, students' academic performance increases. For instance, when there's parent involvement, students are more likely to be curious about their educational pursuits and their dreams. And we know the curiosity is a precursor to academic achievement. Grades in high school increase or enhance when parents are involved, student behavior improves when parents are involved. So we, you know, want to talk to parents about that. And we know that say truancy rates are reduced for parents who are directly involved in their students, in their children. And we tell this to parents that the more you're involved, the better off your child will do, both socially and academically. And when parents get that, the child gets that. They develop kids with the ability to navigate their own road to success. Okay, that when they know what their parents have done through telling of the stories, of the family stories, what their dreams and aspirations were, and how they helped or didn't help, you know, during their own the parents' quest, you know, for education. It's also important for parents to understand the telling their story as well as the cultural stories of their families, of how they navigated through. You know, what was the history of our family, what was uh the successes or the failures. Those are all things that are very important to helping the student or their child understand what they need to do in order to get through. We also know that families, when we say families, it's not just parents, it can be extended family, aunts, uncles, mentors that all embrace the child and therefore have an investment in the child. As practitioners, we may have an investment, but it doesn't match anything that a parent or a family, you know, kin family can do. So we have to show respect to and defer to families oftentimes in order to engage the child. It's just not about engaging the parent, we have to engage the child, and the best way to do that is to respect the child's parent, the student's parent and their families.

SPEAKER_02:

And what advice would you give to families who feel unsure about how to exactly help their students succeed?

SPEAKER_00:

Right, and that's where need is very comes in critically and is very important because we have the same stories that you know we serve minoritized students, and we have the same stories of the struggle, okay, the barriers. But we're here today, and if we can do it, you can do it. And that's the way that we help parents understand that we're here to support you, not to make you feel bad about not understanding the college process. And we are very honest that it's a daunting task when you start to begin like the whole college process. And many of our students are first generation uh college students, so their parents don't know. And it's not a negative, it's just the fact of life. If you haven't gone it to college, that all of this is very new. Even if you've gone to college, what we talked to parents about, it's it's a different experience. They say that when I went to school, and now you really have to understand the use of technology, some of the regulations that have changed, things like how do you finance you know college education because many parents are very fearful that they wouldn't be able to finance uh their child's college education, and there are ways to do it, and it's okay to ask for help, and that's our primary goal that we're here to help you navigate through that very difficult you know process, like filling out the FAFA. You know, it's like filling out a tax form that can be very challenging. We can just make parents feel more comfortable that they have a friend to their child and to their family that's there to help them go through it. You don't have to do it alone, and it's really time consuming, but the the outcome is certainly worth going through that.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, thank you, Dr. Sturdevant, for that powerful insight. And I'm going to tell you, I personally really do appreciate everything you're doing because you know, from the hand holding to teaching to everything, it's it really makes a difference.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. It takes we have to do it together if we really want to build our communities. And kids, parents shouldn't be left out to their out there alone. And we're here to help.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, you're welcome. It's been a pleasure.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, it's definitely been a pleasure on our side too. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for listening to the Need Podcast. To apply for scholarships, access support, or learn how you or your organization can get involved, visit www.needld.org. Email needpgh at gmail.com or call 412 566 2760. Need unlocking the power of education for students, families, and the future of our region.