College students with children are a unique subset of emerging adults, whose lives were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, challenging their pursuit for education and financial independence. We sought to understand barriers and facilitators to their academic persistence during the first wave of COVID-19 in New York City. We conducted 37 in-depth interviews with students, faculty, and staff at six community colleges within a public university about their experiences during the pandemic and analyzed data using a modified approach to grounded theory. Students, faculty, and staff recognized the magnified and expanded roles and responsibilities of student parents. Students discussed the challenges they endured because of the diminished time from these new responsibilities. They shared strategies implemented and sacrifices made to manage. Support from faculty and staff was critical to their academic persistence. Increased faculty flexibility and synthesizing information about remote resources can help student parents better manage during the pandemic.

有孩子的大学生是新兴成年人中的一个独特子集，他们的生活被 COVID-19 大流行打乱，挑战了他们对教育和经济独立的追求。我们试图了解在纽约市第一波 COVID-19 浪潮期间，阻碍他们坚持学业的障碍和促进因素。我们对一所公立大学内六所社区学院的学生、教职员工进行了 37 次深入访谈，了解他们在大流行期间的经历，并使用改良的扎根理论方法分析数据。学生、教职员工认识到学生家长的角色和责任被放大和扩大。学生们讨论了他们因承担这些新职责而减少的时间所承受的挑战。他们分享了实施的战略和为管理做出的牺牲。教职员工的支持对他们的学术坚持至关重要。提高教师的灵活性和综合有关远程资源的信息可以帮助学生家长在大流行期间更好地进行管理。