A recent Sacramento State graduate describes how caregiving for a grandmother with Alzheimer’s pushed them to the edge of stopping out—highlighting why flexible campus policies and financial aid are essential for student caregivers.
A college dream can feel fragile when a family member’s health takes a sudden turn.. For Adrien Manzi. the pressure wasn’t theoretical—when their grandmother’s Alzheimer’s worsened. they juggled full-time work. classes. and care until the stress became almost unbearable.. At one point, they feared they would have to stop out.
Manzi’s experience is part of a growing U.S.. reality: about 5 million college students are caregivers for adults. typically older relatives. and that number is projected to rise as the population ages and the cost of care balloons.. In California. the stakes are already visible in student attrition. with California’s 400. 000 student parents cited as a group that has started college and stopped out in no small part because of juggling caregiving and school.
Manzi said they negotiated the competing demands of caregiving, work, and coursework throughout their degree.. They first moved from American River College to Sacramento State University, after their grandmother had professional memory care support.. That stability, they said, helped Manzi complete their bachelor’s.
But even that support didn’t last.. In the summer of 2023, their grandmother broke her hip.. The recovery facility, Manzi wrote, wasn’t equipped for memory care, forcing their mother and them to take over.. During Manzi’s first semester at Sacramento State. they said they spent about 10 hours a week caring for their grandmother on top of full-time work and school.. When they weren’t providing care, anxiety took over, and they described feeling alone and unsure where to turn.. Overwhelwhelmed, they “nearly stopped out.”
They eventually stayed on track thanks to help from people around them.. Manzi wrote that peers offered advice on balancing caregiving. work. and school. while professors extended deadlines and posted lectures online—practical flexibility that made the difference between persisting and pausing their education.
The risk for others can be far sharper.. Manzi pointed to findings that over half of student caregivers (53%) consider stopping out, compared with 31% of non-caregivers.. The gap matters because it raises exposure to broader consequences, including unemployment, housing insecurity, and student loan defaults.
The author argues that California higher education leaders and policymakers should reduce those pressures for student caregivers. In interviews and conversations with fellow caregivers, Manzi said two needs came up repeatedly.
First is flexibility built into campus and course policies.. Manzi said they were fortunate to receive faculty support, but argued that flexibility should be guaranteed more widely.. They called on campuses statewide to institutionalize policies that help students manage unpredictable life events without turning those disruptions into barriers to completion. and to create institutional cultures that recognize the whole student.
Second is financial support.. Manzi wrote that more than 8 in 10 caregivers nationwide are uncompensated. and that families can be forced to cover care costs even while paying for college.. They noted that caregivers nationwide are spending a quarter of their income on care expenses. making it harder to afford school.. They called for expanding and streamlining access to emergency aid and targeted financial support to prevent students from being forced to choose between caregiving and education.
Manzi. who recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology at Sacramento State University. wrote the commentary while completing a research fellowship at California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy. as part of Sacramento State’s Pathways Fellows Program.. They emphasized that they were lucky to receive support when they needed it. but said the goal should be to make that outcome far more common.
Their grandmother’s dream, Manzi said, was for her grandkids to go to college.. “Let’s strengthen these possibilities for everyone. ” they wrote—urging campuses to back student caregivers with both flexible policies and real financial relief so caregiving doesn’t quietly shut the door on higher education.
student caregivers college stopout caregiving support Alzheimer’s campus flexibility emergency financial aid California higher education Sacramento State student parents